Chamber and committees

To support the installation of solar panels on existing domestic and commercial premises, the Scottish Government has a number of funding schemes.

For domestic properties, Home Energy Scotland provides advice and funding for solar installations of up to £5,000 in interest-free loans. Warmer Homes Scotland, the Scottish Government’s national fuel poverty scheme, provides funding for solar projects for homeowners or private tenants with consenting landlords.

Local authorities can obtain Scottish Government funding for solar installations through our Area Based Scheme. The Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund also considers funding applications for solar PV within the zero emission heat solutions category.

For communities, our Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) supports solar renewable projects through advice and loan and grant funding to community groups. Our SME Loan Scheme offers eligible businesses access to interest free loans of up to £100,000 towards the installation of solar PV, as well as free energy efficiency evaluation and advice on potential installations.

A national oversight group responsible for a review of AHP Education and Workforce has recently concluded its work. The collaborative group involving a wide range of AHP stakeholders including professional bodies, HEIs and NHS Boards is due to report their recommendations to the Scottish Government. I will not pre-empt the recommendations of that group but look forward to receiving the suite of recommendations the group has put forward regarding the future of training and development of AHP staff.

Our New Build Heat Standard will apply to all new buildings seeking building warrant approval from 1 April 2024, as well as major conversions of existing buildings where certain criteria are met. The criteria will be outlined in due course, drawing from the consultations we have hosted on the New Build Heat Standard.

The Scottish Government’s Home Energy Scotland (HES) grants offers funding for homeowners and self-builders across Scotland to invest in energy efficiency improvements, zero emissions heating, micro-renewables and battery storage.

The Scottish Government currently provides significant support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through Business Energy Scotland (BES). BES can provide advice on installation of energy efficient and low carbon technologies including zero-direct emissions heating systems for businesses who are off the gas grid.

BES is also responsible for signposting businesses to the SME Loan and Cashback Scheme and for producing the assessment reports that are a prerequisite for application.

The successor to the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme will launch on 3 July 2023 and will last for a minimum of 5 years. It will provide eligible homeowners with access to a fully supported scheme from survey to installation to service visit, it will follow the PAS 2035 process and deliver whole house retrofit of heating and energy efficiency measures. Some design elements of the scheme are still being agreed, however it will take a zero emissions heating first approach to the measures offered to households.

Off-gas-grid homeowners and businesses may also be suitable for heat networks or communal heating systems. The £300 million Scotland’s Heat Network Fund offers capital grant funding for the rollout of new zero emission heat networks and communal heating systems, as well as the expansion and decarbonisation of existing heat networks across Scotland. The Fund will support both networks suited to urban environments as well as small, rural and community-led projects.

This September we launched the Heat Network Support Unit. Working primarily with public sector organisations, the Unit offers advice and grant funding for pre-capital stages of heat network projects.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS is committed to continuous development of its employees to provide high-quality services through a skilled workforce and to meet its strategic goals. As part of this commitment, SPS aims to develop new recruits through the Modern Apprenticeship Frameworks provided by Skills Development Scotland (SDS).

The following table shows the actual number of apprenticeships being started in the SPS each year since 2016.

In line with the principle of industry responsibility for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), it is for retailers (in consultation with the scheme administrator, Circularity Scotland Ltd) to decide how to comply with the obligation to provide a takeback service for scheme articles sold online. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has published guidance to support retailers in complying with their obligations:

https://www.sepa.org.uk/regulations/waste/deposit-return-scheme/retailers/online-retailers/

However, as set out in the answer to S6W-12236 on 1 December 2022, we are considering measures to reduce the burden this obligation places on industry, and are working closely with SEPA to ensure that the guidance is updated if necessary as a result of this work.

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 Heat in Building Strategy shows that including fabric upgrades the estimated average building-level cost of installing a zero emission system, such as an air source heat pump, is just over £12,000. The cost for an individual dwelling can vary depending on the building type, materials, existing levels of energy efficiency and type of heating systems being replaced; and we recognise that retrofit costs for hard-to-treat properties are likely to be higher than the average.

Further analysis of the estimated capital and running costs of zero emissions heating systems has been undertaken as part of the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Heat in Buildings Strategy, which can be accessed at: Heat in buildings strategy: business and regulatory impact assessment - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

We continue to develop the evidence base on the costs of different low and zero emissions heat options suitable to different properties across the Scottish building stock. For example, we are undertaking research to better inform our understanding of the cost of installing energy efficiency measures and replacing direct emissions heating systems in homes. While there is no fixed definition of a HTT home, this research includes traditional tenements and homes off the gas grid. This research is due to complete early next year.

As set out in the answer to S6W-12343 on 5 December there is a range of support available to all properties including for older and hard-to-treat off-gas-grid properties.

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 Island Communities Impact Assessment for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme, published on 16 March 2020 and available here: Islands Communities Impact Assessment - Deposit return scheme for Scotland: islands communities impact assessment - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) , considered the impact of online takeback on island communities and concluded that this aspect of the scheme would be vital to ensure access to the scheme for consumers in island areas who were unable to access a physical return point. These considerations also apply to rural areas in terms of ensuring equality of access to DRS.

The offshore wind developments included in the estimate of 40GW of potential offshore wind developments in the pipeline, subject to planning and consenting decisions, and finding a route to market, included:

3.8 gigawatts of projects currently under construction or awaiting construction [1]

• Seagreen
• Inch Cape
• Moray West
• Neart na Gaoithe

4.2 gigawatts of projects with lease options [2]

• Berwick Bank
• Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm
  
  
• 5.7 gigawatts of estimated capacity for targeted oil and gas decarbonisation projects under the INTOG leasing round [3]
  
  
• 0.5 gigawatts of estimated capacity for Innovation projects under the INTOG leasing round [4]
  
• 27.6 gigawatts from 20 ScotWind projects [5]

[1] Scottish Energy Statistics Hub - Pipeline renewable capacity by planning stage

Scotland, 2022 Q2
‎ Scottish Energy Statistics Hub (shinyapps.io)

[2] Marine Scotland – Marine Projects

Marine Projects | Marine Scotland Information

[3] Scottish Government, Sectoral marine plan – offshore wind for innovation and targeted oil and gas decarbonisation: initial plan framework

Supporting documents - Sectoral marine plan - offshore wind for innovation and targeted oil and gas decarbonisation: initial plan framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

[4] Scottish Government, Sectoral marine plan – offshore wind for innovation and targeted oil and gas decarbonisation: initial plan framework

Supporting documents - Sectoral marine plan - offshore wind for innovation and targeted oil and gas decarbonisation: initial plan framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

[5] Crown Estate Scotland, “ScotWind Awards with Project Partners November 2022” https://www.crownestatescotland.com/resources/documents/scotwind-awards-with-project-partners-november-2022

First introduced during the pandemic, Cytosponge is an excellent example of innovation in diagnostic services, supporting patients to access cancer checks closer to home and helping to reduce demand on health services.

Cytosponge has now been implemented in all mainland Health Boards, and collaborative discussions are ongoing between the NHS Scotland Centre for Sustainable Delivery and Island Health Boards to support implementation of a tailored model for Barrett’s Surveillance cohorts.

We have undertaken an external audit of the climate justice fund and an impact assessment to ensure policy coherence for sustainable development for the overall approach in order to better understand the needs for loss and damage support. As agreed following the evaluation, all Climate Justice Fund money for the £5m pledge will be allocated on the basis of an independent needs assessment with stakeholders and those communities impacted. Once conducted, we will respond accordingly and deliver a participatory, co-designed programme that fully meets the needs of the communities that it seeks to serve. In line with funds already delivered to loss and damage, all sums granted will be monitored and evaluated.