Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-22654

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of existing recycling services for heat pumps, and what steps it is taking to ensure that the sector is prepared for future demand.

Question reference: S6W-22669

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide (a) further information on the demographics of the 6,000 applications to the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme since its launch in August 2023 and (b) a breakdown by (i) the age of applicants, (ii) the median household income of applicants and (iii) local authority area.

The Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme was launched in December 2022. The figures provided show the demographic between this launch date and the end of August 2023.

The scheme is open to all domestic owner occupied households in Scotland, and therefore data on the age and income of applicants are not collected as part of the application process. In the following table, the data requested has therefore been supplied by local authority area only.

Local Authority	Applications
Aberdeen City	152
Aberdeenshire	457
Angus	155
Argyll and Bute	314
City of Edinburgh	561
Clackmannanshire	55
Dumfries and Galloway	240
Dundee City	114
East Ayrshire	90
East Dunbartonshire	133
East Lothian	169
East Renfrewshire	124
Falkirk	121
Fife	443
Glasgow City	262
Highland	440
Inverclyde	43
Midlothian	107
Moray	191
Na h-Eileanan Siar	43
North Ayrshire	126
North Lanarkshire	182
Orkney Islands	72
Perth and Kinross	314
Renfrewshire	128
Scottish Borders	232
Shetland Islands	64
South Ayrshire	100
South Lanarkshire	294
Stirling	166
West Dunbartonshire	32
West Lothian	217
Total	6,141

Question reference: S6W-22667

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prepare future supply chains for heat pump maintenance, including in relation to (a) parts and (b) labour.

Question reference: S6W-22649

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of registered heat pump installation businesses in Scotland, and how many qualify as SMEs.

Question reference: S6W-22671

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many people there are in Scotland who are qualified to undertake heat loss surveys, broken down by local authority area.

A range of skills will be required to deliver the transition to clean heat. Our Heat in Buildings Supply Chains Delivery Plan sets out practical steps that we will take to support the growth of the green heat sector.

We continue to work in partnership with the sector to ensure that the appropriate support and training provision are aligned at a local level with business needs and future local demands.

Question reference: S6W-22645

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what key performance indicators it uses to measure the success of the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme, in terms of the improvements to energy efficiency delivered by funded works.

The Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme offers homeowners in Scotland a grant, interest free loan or a combination of both to support the installation of energy efficiency measures and zero direct emission heating.

Energy efficiency measures funded through the scheme must be recommended on the property’s EPC, ensuring that funding is being utilised for measures which are suitable for a property and will result in a reduction in carbon emissions.

Question reference: S6W-22651

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21208 by Patrick Harvie on 26 September 2023, how many households have received the rural uplift within the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme in each month since September 2022.

The following table sets out the total number of applications approved and paid for the rural uplift in each month from September 2022 to October 2023.

The rural uplift has only been included as part of the HES Grant and Loan Scheme since the launch of the Scheme in December 2022, meaning data only goes back to this date. Four applications from November 2022 received the rural uplift as these had not yet progressed to a formal offer when the rural uplift was introduced.

Payments are often made in the months following an approved application, which means that the number of applications approved in a month will not be equal to the number of applications paid in a month.

Month	Rural Uplift Applications Approved	Rural Uplift Applications Paid
Sep-22	-	-
Oct-22	-	-
Nov-22	4	-
Dec-22	35	-
Jan-23	146	-
Feb-23	100	15
Mar-23	144	22
Apr-23	237	52
May-23	238	81
Jun-23	222	113
Jul-23	208	136
Aug-23	166	182
Sep-23	177	253
Oct-23	105	218

Question reference: S6W-22674

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its publication, Heat in Buildings: progress report 2023, how much funding was available for the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme, and what the total spend in the form of grants and loans was, in the 2022-23 financial year.

For the budget and spend relating to the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme (formerly HES Loan and Cashback) in 2023-23, please see the following:

Budget allocation – I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13676 on 19 January 2023.

Budget Spend – I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19954 on 9 August 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 .

Question reference: S6W-22657

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of future demand for servicing of renewable heating solutions on market rates for (a) labour and (b) parts.

Question reference: S6W-22675

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that sufficient numbers of qualified insulation contractors are available to meet demand.

Our Heat in Buildings Supply Chains Delivery Plan sets out practical steps that we will take to support the growth of the green heat sector. We continue to work in partnership with the sector to ensure that the appropriate support and training provision are aligned at a local level with business needs and future local demands. The Scottish Government has funded Energy Saving Trust to develop an Insulation Toolkit to explain the importance of insulation and the likely future demand. It also gives guidance to help installers achieve PAS 2030 certification and become TrustMark registered. This will be launched shortly and will be promoted to stakeholders by Energy Saving Trust.