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-22659

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available for homes seeking to install renewable heating systems, but for which current renewable solutions are technically unsuitable for retrofitting on their current heating system in a way that can provide both heating and hot water, in a whole-house heating system.

Our Heat in Buildings Strategy recognises that some properties may have fewer technology options available as a result of location and property type, impact on the fabric of historic buildings and electricity grid capacity.

The cost of converting to a clean heating system is likely to vary according to property type, size and condition. We therefore have a broad range of delivery programmes to provide advice and financial support for householders related to energy efficiency and clean heating.

The Scottish Government funds Home Energy Scotland (HES), administered by Energy Saving Trust, to provide free and impartial advice on energy efficiency, renewable heating and fuel poverty support in Scotland. Within HES there are specialist renewables advisors with training on home renewables systems, home energy efficiency; and solutions for hard to treat and historic buildings. These specialists provide an in-depth service to Scottish homeowners, which can include on-site assessments.

Our Warmer Homes Scotland programme takes a bespoke, whole house approach to support those at risk of fuel poverty through installing insulation and heating measures. A retrofit assessment in accordance with PAS 2035 quality standards is prepared for each home and only where renewables or zero direct emissions heating are technically appropriate, and would not increase running costs, will we offer those to the householder. A wide range of measures is available under the programme and where renewables are not appropriate then the assessor will recommend a suitable package of insulation and/or other heating options.

We will consult before the end of the year on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill. Any regulations introduced will be technology-neutral since different homes and buildings will require different clean heat solutions (including heat pumps, heat networks and direct electric heating systems).

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-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.

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-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-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-22648

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

To ask the Scottish Government how many students are currently pursuing energy efficiency qualifications.

The Scottish Government does not hold or have access to information on the number of students currently pursuing specific energy efficiency qualifications. As energy efficiency would typically form part of a wider course syllabus for a diverse range of qualifications including engineering, technology, science and construction, the Scottish Government is unable to identify which courses include an energy efficiency component and therefore does not have the information required to answer the question accurately.

Question reference: S6W-22661

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 suitability of (a) whole-house renewable heating systems and (b) other renewable solutions for retrofitting on existing housing stock, and how many existing homes it estimates there currently are that are not suitable for retrofitting these systems.

On behalf of the Scottish Government, Element Energy conducted analysis of the technical suitability of low-carbon heating technologies in Scottish domestic buildings. A copy of this report is available here: Scottish Government (2020). Technical Feasibility of Low Carbon Heating in Domestic Buildings, www.gov.scot/publications/technical-feasibility-low-carbon-heating-domestic-buildings-report-scottish-governments-directorate-energy-climate-change/ .

We have recently published research by ClimateXchange that considers options for a methodology to assess the suitability of whole-building heating systems and we are currently undertaking work to develop options for such a methodology for further consideration.

We will consult during 2023 on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill to phase out polluting heating systems in Scotland’s homes and buildings and move to clean heating systems. Any regulations introduced will be technology-neutral since different homes and buildings will require different clean heat solutions (including heat pumps, heat networks and direct electric heating systems).

Question reference: S6W-22630

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central 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 problems with affordability and low awareness of home energy upgrades and retrofit schemes.

We provide a range of funding schemes to provide advice and financial support to help households install energy efficiency upgrades and clean heating. This includes our Warmer Homes Scotland scheme which provides a fully funded, full installation service to those who are least able to afford to take action themselves. We also offer our Home Energy Scotland grant and loan scheme under which households can access up to £15,000 in grants and interest free loans to install clean heating systems and energy efficiency measures. Up to £18,000 is available for those households living in rural areas.

We are promote our schemes our schemes and offer of support in range of different ways. I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22629 on 16 November 2023 for information on the ongoing actions we are taking to do this. 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-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.