Chamber and committees

With regard to the Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland: Area Based Schemes (HEEPS: ABS), local authorities complete quarterly reports on activity which will cover work completed in the previous months, works started on site and works committed but not yet started. This will include an analysis of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) for committed and completed homes. Local authorities will also provide details of the measures completed to homes which will be cross-referenced to the data Ofgem provides on ECO delivery in Scotland.

With regard to the HEEPS: Affordable Warmth Scheme, participating energy suppliers provide a performance scorecard to the Scottish Government on a monthly basis which forms the basis for monthly discussion of delivery, quality and service issues. Similarly, with regard to the HEEPS: Energy Assistance Scheme, Scottish Gas provides a performance scorecard to the Scottish Government on a monthly basis which forms the basis for monthly discussion of delivery, quality and service issues. Additionally, data from invoices for installations completed under the Energy Assistance Scheme allow a fuller report to be compiled for each financial year.

We intend to publish a monitoring report on all the HEEPS schemes later in the year, subject to receiving satisfactory performance data from councils and utility companies.

Scottish Government funding for the Home Energy Programmes for Scotland: Area Based Schemes (HEEPS: ABS) is distributed across all local authorities in Scotland. For 2014-15, £42 million of the £60 million available for HEEPS: ABS is allocated on the basis of need, which takes into account levels of fuel poverty and reflects the different types of properties within rural areas. This ensures that funding is directed to those areas most in need of assistance, including our rural areas.

£14.4 million, 34% of the allocated HEEPS: ABS funding for 2014-15, has been distributed to local authorities in rural areas. This year’s funding will support delivery in off-gas grid areas by providing specific funding to be used to deliver heating and insulation improvements for low-income and vulnerable households who meet the affordable warmth eligibility criteria in off-gas grid properties.

In addition, from April 2014, eligibility for the Energy Assistance Scheme takes precedence over the Affordable Warmth Scheme, helping to address a lack of service for off-gas grid households.

We are also lobbying the UK Government to amend the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) to ensure fairer delivery for rural and remote areas in Scotland. I have written to the UK Government flagging up concerns over the slow delivery of the ECO to rural and remote areas. Following extensive engagement with our stakeholders, the Scottish Government recently responded to the UK Government’s consultation on proposed changes to the ECO. We welcomed the UK Government’s proposals to widen eligibility and include additional incentives for delivery in areas that are off the mains gas grid. However, we remain concerned that this may not go far enough and have called for additional support for rural areas to be applied across all targets within the ECO.

This information is not available.

Figures on the number of people affected by fuel poverty take into account energy efficiency improvements to dwellings and changes in the incomes of Scottish households. This information is collected in the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS). The most recent official statistics are for 2012, published at the end of 2013. Figures for 2013 will be published in the SHCS Key Findings Report 2013, in December 2014.

The Scottish Government has now considered and accepted all of the recommendations made in the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum’s 2014 report, Review of the Scottish Government’s Fuel Poverty Strategy. A letter was sent to the Forum on 16 May 2014 which set out the Scottish Government’s response to each of the recommendations made. This response has been published on the Scottish Government's website:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/warmhomes/fuelpoverty/ScottishFuelPovertyForum.

The seasonal increase in the mortality in the winter is the difference between the number of deaths in the four 'winter' months (December to March) and the average number of deaths in the preceding four months (August to November) and following four months (April to July).

Seasonal increase in mortality in the winter; 2006-07 to 2012-13:

Source: GRO

Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

2012-13 is provisional.

The seasonal increase in mortality has been calculated for every winter since 1951-52. The long-term trend over the last 60 years or so has clearly been downward and Scotland is in line with the EU average in terms of excess winter mortality.

The General Register Office for Scotland publish an annual report on winter mortality in Scotland. The 2012-13 report is available via the following link:

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files2/stats/winter-mortality/2012-2013/winter-mortality-2012-13.pdf

The 2013-14 report, which will include mortality in the winter 2013-14, will be published in autumn 2014.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken research specifically into this. However, this is an area we are keen to explore further. We are developing firm links with health colleagues and this has already assisted in establishing contact with the Deep End practices through the Link Worker programme.

We are also seeking to secure replacement NHS representation on the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum to inform our discussions around the health and fuel poverty links. We will continue to work with the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum and consider any recommendations they may make around this.

The publication of the final report of the Expert Working Group on Welfare has not been delayed. The Group were asked to report to Ministers in spring 2014 and they are sticking to that timescale. Taking into account printing and publishing timescales, I expect that it will be published in June 2014.

There are no plans to change the definition of fuel poverty in Scotland.

In its final report on the Scottish Government’s fuel poverty strategy, published in March 2014, the independent Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum recommended, “that the definition currently used in Scotland is still relevant, but that it needs to be reviewed and updated to reflect a more accurate assessment of the energy demands with in homes in a modern age.”

Research into the robustness of the assumptions underpinning the current definition of fuel poverty was commissioned by the Scottish Government on behalf of the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum. Members of the Forum are currently considering the results of this research and will make recommendations to Scottish Ministers in due course.

The Forum led on the research and is responsible for the final report and its publication.

The Scottish Government is currently engaging with national LGBT organisations, including Stonewall Scotland, to develop a strategic action plan for LGBT equality with targeted actions for specific areas of the Scottish Government to address issues of inequality for LGBT people.

The Scottish Government has provided funding of almost £300,000 to Stonewall Scotland between 2012-15 to work with public bodies who request support to improve the services they deliver to LGBT people.

The Scottish Government is currently engaging with national LGBT organisations, including Stonewall Scotland, to develop a strategic action plan for LGBT equality with targeted actions for specific areas of the Scottish Government to address issues of inequality for LGBT people.