Chamber and committees

Again, as that is a highly technical matter, I will rely on officials.

I ask Stephen Garvin whether that is being explored in those terms.

I ask David Blair to jump in again.

Again, I will turn to officials for an answer to that question.

As I said in my previous response, the committee will be aware that the single building assessment process needs to be undertaken to identify where we believe changes need to be made. David Blair might want to come in here and say whether there has been any assessment of the numbers.

It would be inappropriate to predict the outcome of the discussions that we are having with COSLA. We need to work in a co-operative and collegiate way with local government, and that is the spirit in which we are entering the process.

However, as an indicative example, the most recent pilot phase offered local authorities the option of bidding for up to £50,000 for staff or consultant capacity to allow them to undertake their work. I think that, of those that followed things through to completion, most drew down slightly more than half of the £50,000 on offer—from £25,000 up to the mid-£30,000s. That is an indicative example of the kind of ballpark that we might be talking about but, as I have said, it would be wrong to pre-empt the discussions that we are having with COSLA by trying to predict the outcome at this stage.

Our experience of working through the pilot phases gives us confidence that, with the right resources and capacity in place, local authorities will be able to complete that work on the timescale that we have set out. As I said in my opening remarks, we have worked very well and closely with COSLA as a body and with the individual local authorities that have been taking forward their pilots, and I do not think that significant concern has been raised about the timescale for the first strategies.

I am sure that Monica Lennon and I agree that not only local government but the heat in buildings agenda more generally are extremely exciting places to work.

Beyond LHEES, we also have the clear commitment to introduce a phased schedule of regulations to ensure that our homes and buildings are brought up to standard on energy efficiency and the transition to zero-emissions heating. The clear sense that the Scottish Government and local government working together are committed to that long-term agenda will give the industry confidence to invest in the recruitment, training and skills that are necessary. That, in turn, will send strong signals to the further education sector about the opportunities.

I believe firmly that there are not only good jobs but long-term, high-quality careers to be had in the transition. It is a massive investment in the transformation of our building stock. That must be done to a high quality and in a way that meets people’s needs on fuel poverty. It has to be a just transition. That means that a huge amount of work needs doing. The Scottish Government is committed not only to signalling the long-term commitment to seeing that work through but to maximising the investment from public and private sources to ensure that it is well funded.

We should see the situation more as an opportunity than a challenge. It is a huge technical challenge, but it is a really big opportunity for our economy as well.

The launch of the agency on a virtual basis in the first instance is the right way forward. We already have a huge amount of work in the area that can be brought together under the auspices of that agency, and can continue and develop from there on. It would be a mistake to think that the creation of the agency is simply about infrastructure such as a building and a front door rather than about cracking on with the work that is already happening and continuing to develop it. The launch of the agency on a virtual basis in the first instance will support the continued, incremental improvement to the agenda that is already being taken forward across Scotland. I also see it as a huge opportunity for sharing the skills and best practice that will be necessary to support the public, private and community sectors to take that forward.

Given that that is separate from the LHEES order that we are debating, it might be appropriate for either me or the cabinet secretary to write to the committee if there has not been a recent update on that.

We are already working with agencies and organisations to deliver not just the heat in buildings agenda but support on fuel poverty and energy efficiency. That work is already resourced, and there have been increases in resources since the beginning of the current cost of living crisis. We have been keen to ensure that we maximise the uptake and availability of the grant, loan and other advice services that are available as we continue to develop and embed that throughout Scotland. The new agency will take on a key role in not only bringing that together but improving how it is delivered throughout Scotland.