Chamber and committees

Home Energy Scotland (HES) deliver the Home Energy Scotland Loan Schemes on behalf of Scottish Government. Home Energy Scotland does not recommend measures to customers, but instead offers funding for measures recommended on an EPC or renewables report.

A number of zero carbon space and water heating technologies are available for funding through Home Energy Scotland:

Water Heating Systems

Heat Pumps (either air source to water, ground source to water, water source to water or hybrid air source to water)

Biomass boilers or stoves (non-automated, non-pellet stoves or room heaters are not eligible)

All the above measures attract cashback under the HES Renewables Loan Scheme.

As per the Lord Advocate’s Statement to the Scottish Parliament on 22 September 2021, the scope of the recorded police warning scheme has been extended to include possession only offences of Class A drugs. The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of recorded police warnings issued, nor the number of people that have been referred to drug treatment services in these cases. This information is held by Police Scotland.

The Scottish Government has previously commissioned research which considered the capital and operational costs associated with zero direct emissions heating (ZDEH) technologies within new homes, which encompassed various types of air source heat pumps and direct electric heating. The report, however, did not make a distinction between ducted or ductless heat pumps. A copy of this research is available here: Costs of zero emissions heating in new buildings (climatexchange.org.uk)

As set out in the Scottish Government’s Heat in Buildings Strategy, we are developing regulations to ensure that new homes, applying for a building warrant from 2024, must use ZDEH systems. We consulted on initial proposals for these regulations during 2020-21, and have published an analysis of the consultation responses, which will inform the final design of the regulations. It is our intention for these regulations to be technology-neutral, to ensure developers have flexibility in achieving compliance. At the introduction of these regulations, a full Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) will be published – which will set out the costs and benefits of the policy options considered. We will also undertake a range of impact assessments, including a BRIA, on our proposals to regulate heating systems in existing homes (including off-gas grid homes) when we separately introduce the necessary legislation to achieve this.

The Scottish Government has previously commissioned research which considered the capital and operational costs associated with zero direct emissions heating (ZDEH) technologies within new homes, which encompassed various types of air source heat pumps and direct electric heating. The report, however, did not make a distinction between ducted or ductless heat pumps. A copy of this research is available here: Costs of zero emissions heating in new buildings (climatexchange.org.uk)

As set out in the Scottish Government’s Heat in Buildings Strategy, we are developing regulations to ensure that new homes, applying for a building warrant from 2024, must use ZDEH systems. We consulted on initial proposals for these regulations during 2020-21, and have published an analysis of the consultation responses, which will inform the final design of the regulations. It is our intention for these regulations to be technology-neutral, to ensure developers have flexibility in achieving compliance. At the introduction of these regulations, a full Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) will be published – which will set out the costs and benefits of the policy options considered. We will also undertake a range of impact assessments, including a BRIA, on our proposals to regulate heating systems in existing homes (including off-gas grid homes) when we separately introduce the necessary legislation to achieve this.

The Scottish Government is aware of the UK-wide legislative proposals and officials across the UK have held constructive discussions on a number of measures related to the welfare and conservation of animals overseas. We are carefully considering our position on each of these measures.

ScotRail has commenced a Disability Impact Assessment (DIA) regarding the ticket office opening hours consultation, the DIA process will reflect all feedback received. The purpose of the public consultation is to enable passengers and stakeholders to provide specific feedback on how the proposals impact their journey compared to ScotRail’s current ticket office opening hours. It is worth highlighting Abellio ScotRail do not plan to reduce current staffing levels and have committed to improve staff visibility and customer assistance.

Following the completion of the ticket office consultation, a copy of the DIA document will be available directly from ScotRail.

The Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme is being delivered through the National Entitlement Card (NEC) in the same way as the long standing Older and Disabled Persons’ Scheme. The Improvement Service is the accountable body for the NEC Scheme. People applying for an NEC or Young Scot NEC are asked to provide proof of person and proof of address.

Young people aged 16 and over apply for the new NEC card themselves, whilst parents, guardians or carers apply on behalf of children aged 5-15 and are required to provide proof that they hold that role in relation to that child. Full details of the acceptable proofs are listed on the NEC website .

In relation to asylum seekers and refugees, the Improvement Service issued updated guidance to local authorities in September 2021. One proof of specific relevance to asylum seekers and refugees is the Application Registration Card (ARC), issued by the Home Office. Under the UK Proof of Age Scheme (PASS), the ARC cannot be used to establish evidence of identification and so cannot be used online to verify parental responsibility of a young person under 16 years. It may however be used when applying offline and in conjunction with other information or evidence available to a council, a school or a dedicated staff member within a Local Authority assigned to help asylum seekers and refugees. This will enable the official to vouch for an applicant or a parent acting on their behalf by considering other information, evidence or context not available to the online application process.

Abellio ScotRail advise they carried out analysis from ticket issue data for each of the current ScotRail ticket offices covering the seven-week period from 30 October to 17 December 2016 & 2019, regarded in the industry as the busiest period in the year.

It is important to note the data used for the review was from 2019 and represents a period not impacted by the Covid pandemic and the associated fall in customer numbers.

Abellio ScotRail confirmed to Transport Scotland on 13 July 2021 of their intention to undertake a review of ticket office opening hours under Schedule 17 of the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Scottish Government has provided £2.5million support to outdoor education.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring learners have access to valuable outdoor learning experiences. We have had intensive discussions with providers on how we can support the sector in this challenging time and we will be announcing details in due course.