Chamber and committees

The Used Electric Vehicle Loan Scheme (‘The Low Carbon Transport Loan’) is administered on behalf of Scottish Ministers by Energy Saving Trust, who are an independent organisation working to address the climate emergency. Funding has been provided to EST to administer this service on an annual basis and since the scheme launched over a decade ago it has successfully supported over 7,400 individuals and businesses across Scotland make the transition to EVs and ultra-low emission vehicles by providing interest free loans worth over £207M.

Due to high demand, the LCTL has closed for 2023-2024 as the full budget has been allocated. Currently this scheme is being evaluated and reviewed by Transport Scotland to ensure the scheme continues to meet its intended objectives. The Scottish Budget is set on an annual basis and is impacted by the UK Budget setting process and funding consequentials received from the UK Government. These are unprecedented times with significant pressures on financial resources and difficult decisions had to be taken when setting the 2024-25 Scottish Budget. Currently no budget has been confirmed to continue this scheme in 2024-25 and officials are currently working on forward business plans for review by senior management within Transport Scotland. Individuals and businesses can register their interest on the EST website for further information on the loan - Used Electric Vehicle Loan - Energy Saving Trust .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23651 on 7 December 2023 as advised in the answer, the Scottish Government understands that the rule that a marriage is voidable by reason of permanent and incurable impotency is little used.

The available civil justice statistics indicate that between 2012-13 and 2021-22, five court actions were raised seeking a declarator of nullity of marriage and the courts disposed of six actions in the same period. These figures will include actions raised on the basis that the marriage was void (of no effect) from the outset, for example because one of the parties was incapable of consenting to marriage, as well as any such actions raised on the ground of impotency.

The answer to S6W-23651 also referred the member to the then Scottish Executive’s 2000 White Paper Parents and Children . On the issue of whether to abolish the rule, paragraph 10.9 states “a majority of the few respondents to Improving Scottish Family Law that focussed on this issue (7 out of 11) suggested that the existing situation should be maintained. In one response, it was pointed out that impotency is recognised as a ground for declaration of nullity by the Roman Catholic Marriage Tribunals and that the concept of a voidable marriage on this ground in civil law would provide a solution to couples who would otherwise be required to seek divorce, against their religious beliefs.”

If a change was in contemplation, we would need to consult carefully with a broad range of potentially interested religious and other bodies. However, as my response to S6W-23748 advised, we have no plans to consult in this area.

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 Scottish Government has not made any projections for any inflation-based losses incurred on the interest-free loan. In response to the maturing EV market as well as the current cost of living crisis we have reduced the amount of funds provided per vehicle slightly to maximise value for money and impact of loan funding. We regularly review the loan to ensure it benefits as many people as possible. This included opening up the loan eligibility to support the used EV market in 2020.

Funding provided to Energy Saving Trust (EST) to deliver the Low Carbon Transport Loan needs to be spent each year to deliver Scottish Government policy, therefore, it is not possible for the Scottish Government to hold onto funding to accrue interest.

The Scottish Government provides annual funding to Energy Saving Trust (EST) who are an independent organisation looking to address the climate emergency, EST then delivery the Low Carbon Transport Loan on behalf of Scottish Ministers.

Since the scheme launched in 2011, EST have paid out (i) £176.5 million in loans for new vehicles and (ii) £46.2 millions in loans for used vehicles. (A) To date £101.5 million has been paid back for new vehicle loans and £7.8 million for used vehicle loans. (B) The scheme’s terms and conditions require the loan to be repaid over a term of up to 6 years (5 years for the used EV loan). EST can recycle loan repayments to fund further loans in order to maximise the value and impact of the scheme.

The Scottish Government provides annual funding to Energy Saving Trust (EST) who are an independent organisation working to address the climate emergency, EST then deliver the Used Electric Vehicle Loan on behalf of Scottish Minister.

Since the used electric loan scheme launched in September 2020 we have (i) received 3,885 applications and (ii) approved and paid 2,207 claims. Information on the value of loans paid each month is detailed in the following table:

As outlined in response to question S6W-24754 on 6 February 2024, Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report from December 2023 report states that “Starlink [an LEO satellite service] currently delivers nationwide broadband coverage, including in harder-to-reach areas” and that “Ofcom home broadband performance measurements suggest measured speeds on its [Starlink] network average around 100 Mbit/s download and 14 Mbit/s upload.”

The R100 contracts will continue to deliver gigabit-capable connections across Scotland and are expected to conclude in 2028. The R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme also remains available to those beyond the reach of commercial and R100 contract build, offering up to £5,000 with which to secure, as a minimum, a superfast broadband connection.

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 .

Every home and business across Scotland, including on Orkney, should be able to access a superfast broadband connection – either through fixed line broadband, mobile broadband, fixed wireless access or using newer technologies such as Low Earth Orbit satellites.

As outlined in response to question S6W-24707 on 6 February 2024 every home and business across Scotland should be able to access a superfast broadband connection – either through fixed line broadband, mobile broadband, fixed wireless access or using newer technologies such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites.

The superfast broadband figure quoted in Ofcom’s latest Connected Nations Report published on 19 th December 2023 relates to the availability of fixed line broadband only, which currently stands at 95% across Scotland.

The same Ofcom 2023 report also states that “Starlink [an LEO satellite service] currently… delivers nationwide broadband coverage, including in harder-to-reach areas” and that “Ofcom home broadband performance measurements suggest measured speeds on its [Starlink] network average around 100 Mbit/s download and 14 Mbit/s upload.”

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 .

Scotland’s Heat Network Fund (SHNF) and the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP) has to date provided over £62 million to support the roll out of several heat networks across Scotland. The SHNF also offers funding to specifically support the extension of heat networks. All projects are encouraged to use our funding to establish heat networks that are futureproofed and have capacity for expansion. SHNF is currently supporting the extension of the Torry Heat Network. Phase 1 of the project received grant funding from the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP) and will complete this year. Phase 2 will see the network increase its connections by 587 homes and various non-domestic buildings. In addition, West Dunbartonshire Council also received LCITP grant support to deliver the Queen’s Quay heat network which has been constructed with the intention to extend to further buildings in the area.

Although projects funded through LCITP and SHNF have the potential for expansion, many projects are currently in the early stages of multi-year construction programmes and any future expansion is dependent on the heat network owners.

We are also resourcing all local authorities to produce Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies, and these identify many heat network opportunities across Scotland. This is the vital first step in the expansion of heat networks, and we will work with our partners in local government to undertake further economic analysis to provide a clear pipeline of commercial heat network projects.

In order to obtain accurate data from projects funded through Scotland’s Heat Network Fund and the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme we need to gather information for a reasonable time period post commissioning of the project to ensure accurate data is collated. As we do not have a full data set, we are unable to provide a reliable figure at this time.

In addition, due to heat supply agreements currently being developed by a number of projects, Scottish Government is unable to provide accurate estimates of heat supply for pre-capital projects as figures supplied by projects are estimates only and could change in the future.