Chamber and committees

I have laid out exactly why this needs to be a balanced package, and I have been saying since the member’s colleague moved an amendment back in June that a universal blanket approach would almost certainly fail the test of proportionality. I am a little confused as to why the member is using his speech simply to read out what I have already said is the Government position and is doing so in an ever-angrier tone of voice.

I do, and that is why the Government has a long-term programme of reform under the new deal for tenants, on which we have consulted and on which we will be working in relation to permanent legislation. Richard Leonard is well aware that temporary, emergency legislation needs to be justified as being proportionate in relation to the immediate circumstances. That is what we are doing.

I will move on. A great many members spoke about what they see as being the potential impact on the social rented sector. That is extremely important to the Government. From their different perspectives in the debate, Miles Briggs and Mark Griffin shared their concerns on that, some of which are very legitimate. Some members suggested that the measure has already had an impact on the rental income of RSLs. That is not the case. It will have no direct impact on the rental income of RSLs during the first six months.

During the debate, the member will have heard me make it clear two or three times now that we have not yet made decisions about what will happen after 31 March. In the period before then, there is no direct impact on rental income for social housing. Does he accept that we are working in good faith and are already having constructive dialogue with the social housing sector to understand all the important issues that he raises?

Households can obtain free help and advice through various routes, including via direct mail to households living in or at risk of fuel poverty. For example, local authorities write directly to property owners in areas that are targeted by our area-based schemes. They might also refer them to Home Energy Scotland and to our warmer homes Scotland service. We do not keep a central record of those activities.

Yesterday, we launched our one-stop cost of living website, which provides a wide range of advice, including schemes to tackle fuel poverty.

I am happy to engage with members from all parties on the development of the new contract but, as things stand, warmer homes Scotland, which is, of course, a demand-led scheme, provided support to more than 5,300 households in 2021-22, despite being impacted by the Covid pandemic. That is among the highest figures since the scheme began.

We are leading the way in these islands in supporting households in fuel poverty. In fact, the chairman of the British Energy Efficiency Federation, Andrew Warren, recently wrote:

“My advice to Whitehall is simple. Whether you take the high road or you take the low road, you had best be copying Scotland’s initiatives.”

We will continue to develop and seek to go further, but we are making excellent progress in supporting people with energy during these difficult times.

I am sorry that Mr Rennie chooses to denigrate the work not only of Government but of our partner agencies, whose support to households in 2021-22, as I said, involved the highest numbers since warmer homes Scotland began. There is no need for that kind of language about the work that people are doing throughout this country to support people in the cost of living crisis, including with the cost of energy.

There is a huge amount more to do not only in the current context but throughout this decade to retrofit our homes for energy efficiency and zero emissions heating. I hope that, in the future, we will see political parties across the chamber joining us in ensuring that we pursue that as ambitiously as we can.

Warmer homes Scotland provides a bespoke package of energy efficiency and heating improvements that are suitable for each specific property. Some £55 million has been allocated in 2022-23. That is the highest-ever figure. More than 70,000 fuel-poor households have benefited from external wall insulation as part of area-based schemes. That includes properties with non-standard construction and steel frames. We have allocated £64 million to local councils for those schemes to support the improvement of hard-to-treat properties.

I encourage everybody—whatever kind of property they live in—to contact Home Energy Scotland to explore the support that is available to them.

We work closely with the social housing sector to understand the scale of the challenge that confronts it and to support it through that. We will continue to do that in relation to energy efficiency and the critically important role that registered social landlords can have in developing heat networks, which are relevant in rural and urban settings. Just today, we launched the heat networks support unit, which will be an excellent support for the development of local projects in the years to come.

Obviously, some of the issues will be debated in more detail next week once the emergency legislation is introduced. I hope that not only Mr Rennie but other members and the social housing sector will recognise that we have taken an approach that balances all those factors. The Scottish Government is fully committed to working with the social housing sector, both on housing supply and on the important transition to net zero, as well as other areas where its investment is necessary. The context in the social rented sector and that in the private rented sector are different, and that will be reflected in the way in which we engage with those sectors and make future decisions.

We are engaging actively with landlords in the social rented sector as we develop our temporary emergency measures, as well as the safeguards that will come alongside them. We continue to seek close partnership working with them to determine the best way forward from 1 April 2023.

To support that important work, officials convened the first meeting of a short-life task and finish working group earlier this week, bringing together leaders from across the sector. The group will help to support consideration of the decisions that we and social landlords will take on rent affordability and related matters next year.