Chamber and committees

We are committed to a just transition that supports those employed in oil and gas and will continue to work with the sector to remove barriers and seize opportunities offered by the renewable sectors – with no person or region left behind. The Just Transition Fund has already supported an £11 million package of skills projects. In addition, through the Just Transition Participatory Budgeting Fund in the North East and Moray, which has already supported 45 community projects, and the Pilot Community Climate Assembly project, communities and individuals in the region are being actively engaged in discussions on climate action, and empowered to explore what a just transition means for them. Our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan was developed through extensive engagement with industry, trade unions, communities and workers and we will continue to engage with local communities on the importance of a just and fair transition.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19952 on 9 August 2023, lodged by Liam Kerr. 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

From July 2022 to June 2023 there has been nine Scottish Government public health broadcasting campaigns that have used Linear TV, Broadcast Video on Demand and/or Radio.

Regular engagement takes place with the COSLA Environment and Economy policy board. Most recently this included presenting a paper to the board on 23 June providing an update on local authorities progress with their Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES). LHEES will provide area-based plans for decarbonising all buildings in a local authority area, including those owned by local authorities, in line with net zero commitments, which support and guide capital investment (both public and private) over the longer term. The cost of decarbonising local authority buildings specifically has not arisen as part of these discussions, but LHEES will set out what is required to achieve this when they are published by the local authorities. Local authorities are required to publish their first LHEES by the end of 2023, and this duty reinforces the wider duty on public bodies to contribute to the delivery of our national statutory targets to reduce emissions.

To support the decarbonisation of local authority buildings, the Public Sector Heat Decarbonisation Fund has been launched in partnership with Salix offering up to £20 million in grants to support local authorities, as well as universities and arm’s-length external organisations to decarbonise their buildings. The funding forms part of the £200 million already committed to the public sector for energy efficiency and renewable heating over the next five years - part of the wider plan to spend £1.8 billion in this current parliamentary session on decarbonising Scotland’s buildings.

More widely, in our Heat in Buildings Strategy the Scottish Government committed to “work with COSLA to strengthen and integrate governance arrangements on heat and energy efficiency, to ensure effective delivery over the long term.” A liaison role was created in 2022 to provide capacity within COSLA to engage across the Heat in Buildings programme and embed a partnership approach. This resulted in the establishment of the Heat in Buildings Local Government Oversight group, which meets on a regular basis to provide a forum for dialog between relevant Scottish Government and COSLA officials on the Heat in Buildings programme and wider heat transition.

As stated in response to S6W-19919, S6W-19920, S6W-19921, S6W-19922 and S6W-19923 on 9 August 2023, the 2021 Heat in Buildings Strategy estimates the cost of decarbonising Scotland’s buildings at £33 billion.

Costs will be dependent on the route taken to decarbonising buildings, including whether they connect to a heat network or install individual heating solutions, and the depth of energy efficiency retrofit required.

An Estate Strategy and Carbon Management Plan for core Scottish Government buildings is currently under development to support our asset planning and the future investment decisions required to deliver our Heat in Building Strategy targets and our wider Net Zero commitments.

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 2021 Heat in Buildings Strategy estimates the cost of decarbonising Scotland’s buildings at £33 billion.

Costs will be dependent on the route taken to decarbonising buildings, including whether they connect to a heat network or install individual heating solutions, and the depth of energy efficiency retrofit required.

The first step is planning at a strategic level for decarbonisation pathways. Local Authorities are currently preparing Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES) which will set out decarbonisation pathways for local areas. These will be published later this year and will inform decisions around retrofitting across the public sector estate.

In partnership with the wider public sector we will build on LHEES to fully understand the costs associated with transitioning to zero direct emission heating systems across the public estate.

As stated in response to S6W-19919 on 9 August 2023, the 2021 Heat in Buildings Strategy estimates the cost of decarbonising Scotland’s buildings at £33 billion. We will work in partnership with the wider public sector to build on Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies which local authorities are currently developing, to fully understand the costs associated with transitioning to zero direct emission heating systems across the public estate.

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 number of visiting specialist teachers is recorded in September of each year as part of the teacher census. Data for 2023 is not yet available. Visiting specialists are centrally employed by local authorities and data on the school sector in which they work is not collected in the teacher census.

Statistics on centrally employed visiting specialists at Scotland level are available in Table 5.2 of the teacher census supplementary statistics: https://www.gov.scot/publications/teacher-census-supplementary-statistics/

The number of support for learning teachers employed in state schools is shown in Table 1. The Scottish Government collects data on teachers through an annual census in September, so the following information refers to teachers employed in September rather than April.

These statistics include teachers in all sectors (Primary, Secondary, Special and Centrally Employed).

Table 1. Support for learning teachers in Scottish schools

As stated in response to S6W-19919 and S6W-19920 on 9 August 2023, the 2021 Heat in Buildings Strategy estimates the cost of decarbonising Scotland’s buildings at £33 billion.

The cost of decarbonising the NHS will vary amongst individual Health Boards and types of property as there is significant variety in the size of individual buildings across the Estate. It is anticipated that many of the interventions required will result in long term savings and we will work with NHS Boards to estimate the high-level costs of key initiatives that are of national significance.

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