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-22664

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 its position is on the importance of ensuring that the fabric of homes is repaired prior to completing insultation works.

The Scottish Government remains committed to its fabric first approach, set out in our Heat in Buildings Strategy, which prioritises improving the energy efficiency of Scotland’s homes. This is critical to the heat transition, reducing demand for energy, and making homes warmer and easier to heat. However, ensuring that the fabric of a home is in good condition, and adequately repaired if required, prior to completing insulation works is important.

Question reference: S6W-22666

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 effectiveness of the current supply chain for heat pump maintenance, including (a) parts, (b) labour and (c) its ability to grow to meet any increasing demand.

The pace of the Heat in Buildings transition requires a substantial growth in supply chains, including heat pump installation and maintenance. Supporting Scotland’s current and future workforce to develop the skills needed for the net zero transition is a priority for this government. 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-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-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-22670

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 1,900 funding offers through 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 number of heat pump funding offers issued between this launch date and the end of August 2023.

The Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme is available to all domestic owner occupied households in Scotland, therefore data on household income and age of applicants are not collected during the application process. In the following table, the data requested has therefore been supplied for local authority area only.

Local Authority Area	Heat Pump Funding Offers
Aberdeen City	32
Aberdeenshire	144
Angus	62
Argyll and Bute	218
City of Edinburgh	132
Clackmannanshire	8
Dumfries and Galloway	71
Dundee City	21
East Ayrshire	25
East Dunbartonshire	33
East Lothian	45
East Renfrewshire	25
Falkirk	21
Fife	104
Glasgow City	36
Highland	237
Inverclyde	7
Midlothian	31
Moray	68
Na h-Eileanan Siar	37
North Ayrshire	28
North Lanarkshire	38
Orkney Islands	48
Perth and Kinross	93
Renfrewshire	26
Scottish Borders	80
Shetland Islands	34
South Ayrshire	40
South Lanarkshire	75
Stirling	45
West Dunbartonshire	7
West Lothian	52
TOTAL	1923

Question reference: S6W-22656

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 consideration it has given to creating a funding scheme to assist with ongoing maintenance costs of renewable heating solutions installed under the current government capital support schemes for (a) housing associations, (b) private homeowners and (c) landlords.

The purpose of the current capital support schemes is to offer applicants funding to support the installation of energy efficiency measures and zero emissions heating.

We recognise that our supply chains will have to grow substantially to meet the future demand for both installation and maintenance. 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-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-22672

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 its response is to reported statements from industry that current funding for energy efficiency retrofit projects needs to be more flexible and distributed from fewer sources.

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-22662

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 its response is to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Building, which reportedly found that 39% of respondents had not heard about Home Energy Scotland schemes.