Question reference: S6W-20269
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 28 July 2023
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Current status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 25 August 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent meetings it has had with stakeholders in the private housing sector regarding proposed changes to heating efficiencies regarding gas central heating.
Answer
Legislation relating to the efficiency of heating systems such as gas central heating is set out via Ecodesign and energy labelling product standards legislation which is reserved to the UK Government. The UK Government has recently consulted upon proposals to further improve the efficiency of gas boilers ( Improving boiler standards and efficiency consultation (publishing.service.gov.uk )) which closed on 31 March 2023. In addition, heating systems should be installed in line with latest buildings regulations as detailed in the Domestic building services compliance guide .
The Scottish Government also wants to ensure that current and prospective building owners and tenants have fuller information on the efficiency of heating systems as part of an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). This will provide homeowners and tenants with more information on the energy performance of their home, alongside the reserved UK Government Ecodesign regulations, which ensure manufacturers detail the efficiency of their products.
The Scottish Government published a consultation on EPC reform on 25 July 2023 and this is accompanied by workshops open to any stakeholder. In advance of this, we engaged extensively with industry regarding the proposed reform of the EPC rating system. For more detail I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19032 on 26 June 2023.
All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers