Chamber and committees

Households eligible for assistance under Warmer Homes Scotland will be offered low-carbon alternatives, where these are technically appropriate for the property. These include High Heat Retention Heating Systems, Air Source Heat Pumps, Ground Source Heat Pumps, Micro-hydro, Micro-wind and Micro-CHP systems (Micro-CHP systems are not suitable for off gas grid properties). Some of these measures may be of particular benefit to households living in rural and island areas that are not served by the gas grid. Warmer Homes Scotland operates a national pricing mechanism, meaning that rural and island homes aren’t disproportionately affected.

Since April 2021 our Area Based Schemes have included additional funding to provide low carbon and micro-generation measures as part of a whole house approach. Local councils are encouraged to offer these measures to households living in or at risk of fuel poverty, where this is technically feasible and will result in lower energy bills. We also provide additional funding and support for remote rural and island communities to reflect the delivery challenges in these locations, including higher installation costs.

The shared policy programme also commits to provide additional support for rural and islands homes which require bespoke and targeted advice.

Warmer Homes Scotland is a demand led scheme, and as such does not set regional intervention targets for future delivery. The following table shows the completed applications under Warmer Homes Scotland by KPI region for 2020-21:

The Aberdeen - Laurencekirk multi-modal study is being undertaken by Nestrans and includes consideration of a range of multi-modal options. The potential options being considered as part of this transport appraisal have been determined by Nestrans who have detailed knowledge of the local area. Further details on the study can be provided by Nestrans.

In 2019 the Scottish Parliament set ambitious climate change emission reduction targets to net zero emissions by 2045 and a 75% reduction by 2030. This means that by 2030, emissions from homes and buildings will have to fall by 68% against current levels. Transforming the way we heat our homes and buildings, in order to meet these legally binding targets, will touch the lives of almost everyone in Scotland.

The Scottish Government recently consulted on the draft Heat in Buildings Strategy which states that by 2030 around 50% of homes will need to convert to a zero or low emissions heating system, including the vast majority of 167,000 off-gas homes that currently use high emissions oil, LPG, and solid fuels.

A number of respondents offered their support for the consultation paper’s suggestion that the immediate focus should be on low and no regrets interventions and that one of these should be the deployment of individual building heat pumps in buildings off the gas network which currently use high carbon heating fuels. However, there was also concern that the combination of being off-gas grid and living in a hard-to-treat property presents risks around increased fuel poverty.

The Scottish Government has a strong offer of fuel poverty support suitable for those in rural and island areas. Both Warmer Homes Scotland and our Area Based Schemes, which target fuel poor households, take a “zero emissions first” approach to the provision of new heating systems. Ending the provision of new oil/LPG systems through these schemes, in favour of offering low carbon alternatives, is a further step on this path to phasing out these polluting technologies. This year we have increased funding to a record £50 million for Warmer Homes Scotland (an increase from £32 million in 2020-21) and £64 million for our local authority led Area Based Schemes (an increase of £9m compared with 20-21).

The shared policy programme also commits to provide additional support for rural and islands homes which require bespoke and targeted advice.

No evaluation has taken place of the ScotZEB scheme as it is still open for applications until 4 November 2021.

The proposed National Bus Travel Concession Scheme for Young Persons is expected to increase patronage and cause modal shift but the precise impact of these changes is uncertain. The Scottish Government will monitor the scheme to assess the level of take up and the impact it has on people’s travel behaviours and on other modes of transport, including active travel.

Evidence from the existing National Bus Travel Concession Scheme for Older and Disabled Persons indicates that people who benefit from free public transport tend to be more active as a result. These journeys can be used to access outdoor activities and most will involve an active component, for instance to get to or from the bus stop.

There are approximately 4,400 public service buses registered in Scotland, the majority of which will have to transition to zero emission buses in order to meet the 2023 ambition. The Scottish Government has already supported 272 zero-emission buses through the Scottish Ultra-low Emission Bus scheme 2020-21, which is over and above zero emission buses that have been deployed through other means.

It is an objective of the National Bus Travel Concession Scheme for Young Persons that bus operators are reimbursed for the costs of carrying concessionary passengers so as to leave them no better and no worse off through their participation in the Scheme. This objective should mean that there are not subsequent fare pressures on fare paying passengers as a result of the scheme.

We have worked with the Confederation of Passenger Transport to arrive at the reimbursement rates for the Scheme which seek to deliver this objective.

The new Scheme will be monitored closely in order to identify any significant adverse financial impacts, generally or for individual operators or groups of bus operators.

Under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 education authorities in Scotland have a statutory duty to consult and plan on delivery of early learning and childcare (ELC) ( part 6 section 50 ) and on the delivery of day care and out of school care ( part 8 section 55 ) in their local area, at least every two years. Locally-led consultation and service planning is essential to ensuring funded ELC offers that meets local demand and circumstances.

In addition, the Scottish Government has undertaken a number of research exercises to understand parents’ and carers’ needs and preferences at a national level. Over the last three years these include:

• Parents' views and use of early learning and childcare , published in August 2018, in which findings were drawn from an online survey and a telephone survey of parents. The study explored the views and experiences of parents and carers with children under the age of six across Scotland, to inform the expansion of ELC in Scotland. The report found that at the time, nearly 9 in 10 parents (88%) used some form of funded provision and that most combined this with paid and/or informal provision.
• Annual questions about use and affordability of childcare in the Scottish Household Survey for households with a child aged under 11 years old on. The latest report, Under Use of Childcare, published in September 2020, found 79 per cent of households with a child aged two to five years used some form of childcare in 2019.
• Out of school care parent survey , published on 30 August 2019. The report found that use of out of school care was similar across both term-time and the school holidays, with more than half of parents using term-time care (58%) and holiday care (61%). Half of all parents (50%) used both, while 23% used neither.
• Most recently, the Financial Sustainability Health Check of the childcare sector in Scotland, which was published on 31 August, collected information from providers on demand for their services. At the time of the survey (May 2021) overall levels of demand (measured as occupancy levels) were lower for all types of service compared to March 2020. The largest reduction in demand had been in school age childcare (SAC) only services. However, the report also found that demand had generally held up better for services delivering funded ELC than for non-funded services. More detailed information on reported demand can be found in Section 2 of the supporting Analysis and Evidence paper.

No households have had their replacement oil or LPG boilers or heating systems cancelled as a result of the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party shared policy programme commitment to immediately end public subsidy for oil and LPG boilers.

All Warmer Homes Scotland and Home Energy Scotland Loan applications with committed offers signed prior to 6 September 2021, for either replacement oil/LPG boilers or heating systems, will have these honoured and receive their installations/loans. No local council has reported plans to install an oil/LPG boiler or heating measure as part of their Area Based Scheme.

Home Energy Scotland ended recommendations and referrals to Scottish Government schemes for the replacement of oil and LPG boilers from 6 September 2021. From this date, customers will receive advice on lower-carbon alternatives to oil and LPG that are suitable for their homes.

Warmer Homes Scotland surveys ended the recommendation of oil and LPG systems on 6 September 2021. As a result, no further letters offering either replacement oil or LPG boilers or heating systems were sent from 6 September 2021.