Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to decarbonising Scotland’s buildings in line with our climate targets for net zero by 2045. We recognise it may be more challenging for some traditionally built homes and buildings to meet any energy efficiency and heating standard we propose, especially those granted listed status.

This is why officials have met with a variety of organisations with an interest in the retrofit of traditional and protected buildings. These include Historic Environment Scotland, Built Environment Forum Scotland, Under One Roof, Federation of Master Builders, and Historic Houses. The workshop on Traditional and Protected buildings, undertaken by the Tenements Short Life Working Group in October 2022 was attended by a range of stakeholders, including Changeworks, Church of Scotland, Local Energy Scotland, MAST Architects, National Trust for Scotland, Royal Incorporation of Architects Scotland (RIAS), and South Seeds.

Officials plan to continue engagement with key stakeholders alongside the planned consultation on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill. This engagement will be vital in helping us develop cost-effective and technically feasible solutions to improve the energy efficiency and transition Scotland’s traditional and listed buildings to climate-friendly heating. We are committed to ensuring that we do this while respecting and preserving the special characteristics of our buildings and places and considering the health and wellbeing of Scotland’s people.

The Energy Saving Trust, an advice service funded by the Scottish Government, has gathered case study data from 85 pre-1919 properties across Scotland that have gone through various degrees of retrofit and the installation of modern energy efficiency measures and clean heating systems. These can be found at: Energy Saving Trust | Green Homes Network . Learning from these case studies will further help us develop policy and highlight areas where further research is required. The Scottish Government has also recently published research looking at different options for conducting whole building assessments in multi-owner and mixed-use buildings as current building assessment methods in Scotland are used for single dwellings and not at a whole building level. A proportion of these buildings will be of traditional construction. The research can be found at Whole Building Assessment for energy efficiency and zero direct emissions heating .

Officials will identify what further research may be required through engagement during the consultation on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill.

The Scottish Government will not directly save money as a result of the reduction to employer contribution rates to the Strathclyde Pension Fund. Instead, it is the individual employers, including local authorities, who will save.

The amount each scheme employer will save will depend on their pensionable pay-bill and the employer pension contribution rate they are required to pay. These rates have not yet been set for employers outside of the Main Employer Group (MEG) (the 12 local authorities participating in the Fund and arm’s length external organisations).

In very broad terms, the Strathclyde Pension Fund has estimated the overall financial impact on employer contributions in the MEG, to be a £366m saving in years 1 and 2, and £51m p.a. thereafter.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) collects information about the physical characteristics of Scotland’s homes. The SHCS gathers data on the age of the dwelling broken down into six categories, pre-1919, 1919-1945, 1945-1964, 1965-1982, 1982-2002, post-2002. The age bands used reflect different architectural styles, construction techniques and building regulation standards. In the SHCS, traditional buildings are defined as pre-1919 built as evidence shows that construction methods moved away from solid stone walls to more modern practices at this time. The proportion of the housing stock in each local authority area comprised of traditional buildings is included below. Averaged over 2017-2019 we estimate that around 19% of occupied dwellings were constructed pre-1919.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) gathers data on the age of the dwelling broken down into six categories, pre-1919, 1919-1945, 1945-1964, 1965-1982, 1982-2002, post-2002. The age bands used reflect different architectural styles, construction techniques and building regulation standards. Therefore, we are unable to provide data specifically on dwellings built prior to 1914 but can provide data on dwellings built prior to 1919. The proportion of the housing stock in each local authority area comprised of pre-1919 buildings is included below. We estimate that around 19% of occupied dwellings were constructed pre-1919.

The SPCB’s answer to question S6W-16094 explained that, in line with established procurement practice, the SPCB does not publish specific tenderer information which it considers might prejudice fair competition, which could prejudice the commercial interest of any person or organisation or where it would otherwise be contrary to the public interest to do so. The SPCB does not consider it appropriate to publish the information requested.

The SPCB’s procurement function operates in accordance with its published Procurement Strategy and established industry practice including guidance published by the Scottish Government. There are robust processes in place to deliver sustainable contracts that provide best value for money and resilient supply chain governance.

The latest SPCB Procurement Report can be obtained at Annual Report.

The SPCB’s answer to question S6W-16094 explained that, in line with established procurement practice, the SPCB does not publish specific tenderer information which it considers might prejudice fair competition, which could prejudice the commercial interest of any person or organisation or where it would otherwise be contrary to the public interest to do so. The SPCB does not consider it appropriate to publish the information requested.

The SPCB’s procurement function operates in accordance with its published Procurement Strategy and established industry practice including guidance published by the Scottish Government. There are robust processes in place to deliver sustainable contracts that provide best value for money and resilient supply chain governance.

The latest SPCB Procurement Report can be obtained at Annual Report.

The consultation on the Scottish Biodiversity Framework closes on 14 December 2023. We will consider the analysis of responses and publish the final Strategy and Delivery Plan in Spring 2024, and the Biodiversity Investment Plan will follow shortly thereafter. This follows a short delay in producing the consultation on the Delivery Plan.

The transfrontier shipments of waste is a reserved policy and details of waste exports outside of the UK are not published or held by Scottish Government, but are held by SEPA.

The analysis of the Scottish Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) consultation and the Scottish Government response were published on the Scot.gov website on Tuesday 7 November. These documents can be accessed via the following links:

Consultation Analysis Report: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835214763

Scottish Government Response: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835214756