Question reference: S6W-10206
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 8 August 2022
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Current status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 30 August 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the number of people in Scotland accredited to install and maintain heat pumps (a) at present and (b) that would be required from 2024, should its proposals on prohibiting the use of direct emissions heating systems, such as those that run on fossil fuel, in new buildings from 2024 come into force.
Answer
Our Heat in Buildings Workforce Assessment Project, published in June 2022, provided an analysis of the current scale of the existing workforce in Scotland trained to fit certain zero emission heating systems such as heat pumps. The report highlighted that there are no publicly available statistics regarding the total number of heat pump installers in the UK and Scotland, but estimated that there are around 500 trained heat pump installers currently active in Scotland, based on data from the Microrenewable Certification Scheme. The report highlights that other forms of zero direct emissions heating such as direct electric radiators can be installed by an electrician, without any specialist heating knowledge, and there were an estimated 22,000 electricians operating in Scotland in 2018.
We are working with industry to understand the capacity of the supply chain to deliver against the New Build Heat Standard from 2024, including the availability of trained installers. At the introduction of these regulations, a full Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) will be published and the findings of the research above, and any other relevant information will be incorporated into the assessment.