Chamber and committees

Regular engagement takes place with the COSLA Environment and Economy policy board. Most recently this included presenting a paper to the board on 23 June providing an update on local authorities progress with their Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES). LHEES will provide area-based plans for decarbonising all buildings in a local authority area, including those owned by local authorities, in line with net zero commitments, which support and guide capital investment (both public and private) over the longer term. The cost of decarbonising local authority buildings specifically has not arisen as part of these discussions, but LHEES will set out what is required to achieve this when they are published by the local authorities. Local authorities are required to publish their first LHEES by the end of 2023, and this duty reinforces the wider duty on public bodies to contribute to the delivery of our national statutory targets to reduce emissions.

To support the decarbonisation of local authority buildings, the Public Sector Heat Decarbonisation Fund has been launched in partnership with Salix offering up to £20 million in grants to support local authorities, as well as universities and arm’s-length external organisations to decarbonise their buildings. The funding forms part of the £200 million already committed to the public sector for energy efficiency and renewable heating over the next five years - part of the wider plan to spend £1.8 billion in this current parliamentary session on decarbonising Scotland’s buildings.

More widely, in our Heat in Buildings Strategy the Scottish Government committed to “work with COSLA to strengthen and integrate governance arrangements on heat and energy efficiency, to ensure effective delivery over the long term.” A liaison role was created in 2022 to provide capacity within COSLA to engage across the Heat in Buildings programme and embed a partnership approach. This resulted in the establishment of the Heat in Buildings Local Government Oversight group, which meets on a regular basis to provide a forum for dialog between relevant Scottish Government and COSLA officials on the Heat in Buildings programme and wider heat transition.

As stated in response to S6W-19919, S6W-19920, S6W-19921, S6W-19922 and S6W-19923 on 9 August 2023, the 2021 Heat in Buildings Strategy estimates the cost of decarbonising Scotland’s buildings at £33 billion.

Costs will be dependent on the route taken to decarbonising buildings, including whether they connect to a heat network or install individual heating solutions, and the depth of energy efficiency retrofit required.

An Estate Strategy and Carbon Management Plan for core Scottish Government buildings is currently under development to support our asset planning and the future investment decisions required to deliver our Heat in Building Strategy targets and our wider Net Zero commitments.

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

The 2021 Heat in Buildings Strategy estimates the cost of decarbonising Scotland’s buildings at £33 billion.

Costs will be dependent on the route taken to decarbonising buildings, including whether they connect to a heat network or install individual heating solutions, and the depth of energy efficiency retrofit required.

The first step is planning at a strategic level for decarbonisation pathways. Local Authorities are currently preparing Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES) which will set out decarbonisation pathways for local areas. These will be published later this year and will inform decisions around retrofitting across the public sector estate.

In partnership with the wider public sector we will build on LHEES to fully understand the costs associated with transitioning to zero direct emission heating systems across the public estate.

As stated in response to S6W-19919 on 9 August 2023, the 2021 Heat in Buildings Strategy estimates the cost of decarbonising Scotland’s buildings at £33 billion. We will work in partnership with the wider public sector to build on Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies which local authorities are currently developing, to fully understand the costs associated with transitioning to zero direct emission heating systems across the public estate.

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

As stated in response to S6W-19919 and S6W-19920 on 9 August 2023, the 2021 Heat in Buildings Strategy estimates the cost of decarbonising Scotland’s buildings at £33 billion.

The cost of decarbonising the NHS will vary amongst individual Health Boards and types of property as there is significant variety in the size of individual buildings across the Estate. It is anticipated that many of the interventions required will result in long term savings and we will work with NHS Boards to estimate the high-level costs of key initiatives that are of national significance.

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

As stated in response to S6W-19919, S6W-19920 and S6W-19921 on 9 August 2023, the estimated cost of decarbonising Scotland’s buildings is
‎ £33 billion. While universities are autonomous institutions, with responsibility for their own estate, provision and maintenance, we will work in partnership with universities and wider stakeholders to fully understand the costs associated with transitioning to zero direct emission heating systems across different sectors.

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

As stated in response to S6W-19919, S6W-19920, S6W-19921 and S6W-19922 on 9 August 2023, the 2021 Heat in Buildings Strategy estimates the cost of decarbonising Scotland’s buildings at £33 billion. We will work in partnership with the wider public sector to fully understand the costs associated with transitioning to zero direct emission heating systems across the public estate.

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

We remain committed to bringing forward housing legislation to deliver the new deal for tenants and homelessness prevention duties. The majority of the measures being considered for inclusion in the legislation have already been subject to consultation, and we continue to engage directly with stakeholders as more detailed work progresses.

The Government’s legislative programme for the coming parliamentary year will be announced in the autumn Programme for Government in the normal way.

Specifically on the regulatory regime for property factors, the Code of Conduct (the Code) is key to encouraging transparency and setting minimum standards of practice for registered property factors to comply with. Following a full public consultation, a revised Code was introduced in August 2021. The changes ensured that the Code remains up to date and responds to concerns raised by homeowners.

The Scottish Government revised the Code of Conduct for Property Factors in August 2021 to make it clearer, to drive up standards and to improve transparency and consistency.

There is evidence that the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 is working as intended. However. officials will be taking a wider look at the operation of the property factor sector to see what more can be done to promote an ongoing improvement in standards in line with the requirements currently set out in legislation.

The Scottish Government will provide general advice to support homeowners, but it cannot provide legal advice and it cannot become involved in disputes between parties.

All registered property factors must adhere to the conditions set out in the statutory Code of Conduct (the Code) which sets minimum standards of practice. The Scottish Government prepared a revised Code in August 2021, which was designed to be clearer, to drive up standards, and to help homeowners to understand what they should reasonably expect from their property factor and how to hold them to account.

A homeowner who is dissatisfied with their property factor should make a complaint to their property factor. If the issue remains unresolved, the complaint can be taken to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) which can issue a legally binding property factor enforcement order, if appropriate. There is no fee to make an application to the Tribunal.

The Code highlights that homeowners have a choice in who they appoint and, ultimately, they can change their property factor if they remain dissatisfied with the service they are receiving.