Chamber and committees

Replacing the previous cashback arrangements with a standalone grant was a key commitment in the Programme for Government 2022-23 and will offer a more straightforward, flexible and accessible way to access funding for priority measures; particularly in our rural and island areas with additional funding support available through the rural uplift.

To access the grant, applicants must contact the Home Energy Scotland (HES) advice service, which acts as the gateway for this funding and other Scottish Government delivery schemes, including Warmer Homes Scotland. A wide range of marketing activity encourages individuals seeking advice or information on funding support for energy saving improvements to contact HES, including a national marketing campaign currently underway until late January 2023 across TV, radio, press and social media.

The launch of the HES Grant and Loan Scheme generated substantial media coverage across different platforms, including newspapers, radio and TV. It has also been covered on different Scottish Government platforms, including on the gov.scot website and Net Zero Scotland social media channels (Twitter and LinkedIn). Both of these platforms have substantial reach, with the Net Zero Scotland Twitter having over 20,000 thousand followers.

In addition, the Energy Saving Trust (EST) who deliver the HES advice service and the new grant on behalf of the Scottish Government have promoted the new scheme. Newsletters have been issued to installers to inform them of the changes and they have undertaken various media engagements to promote the new grant offer available.

The Scottish Government and its partners will continue to work together to raise awareness of the new HES Grant and Loan Scheme across Scotland, including in the Highlands and Islands region. This will include monitoring uptake of the new offer and tailoring marketing material to reflect the new offer available where necessary.

The Scottish Government does not currently hold this information.

Following the publication of Guidance on the provision of wheelchairs on short term loan in March 2021 ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/guidance-provision-wheelchairs-short-term-loan/ ) Scottish Government officials engaged with individual Health and Social Care Partnerships to initially gauge what progress had been made in implementing the guidance. However, due to the pressures of the pandemic, a full review was not carried out as planned.

That engagement established that there were nine services who were providing a short term wheelchair loan service in house. These were Fife, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde – Acute division.

Following a public consultation we plan to issue revised guidance on the provision of equipment and adaptations. Alongside short term wheelchair provision, this guidance includes extensive advice on the effective and timely provision of community equipment and housing adaptations. Accompanying the guidance is a range of good practice guides and self evaluation tools, which we will support services to utilise and evaluate how they are performing against the Key Actions contained in the guidance.

A table providing a summary of awards made from the Net Zero Transition Fund (NZTF) and their objectives has been lodged with SPICE, BIB no. 63871.

It is too early to outline the carbon savings/environmental impact just now, but we will be asking for this data in due course. The fund remains open and there are a number of active applications under consideration with further expressions of interest from Social Enterprises which are being supported by Social Investment Scotland (SIS) to finalise their plans.

Officials have met with various stakeholders representing the private rented sector including Propertymark, Scottish Association of Landlords, Chartered Institute of Housing, Scottish Land and Estates, Citizens Advice Scotland and Living Rent.

Decisions on future plans for the private sector rent freeze, as well as other measures contained in the Act, will be announced in the coming weeks.

We have met the manifesto commitment to provide more than 80 additional counsellors in Further and Higher Education over four years as set out in our 2018-19 Programme for Government and reiterated in our 2021-22 Programme for Government. The commitment was achieved ahead of time, with an investment of £11.5 million to date and a further £2 million committed in this Academic Year to March 2023. We are also committed to provide further funding for the remainder of the Academic Year (April to July 2023), which falls into the Government’s next financial year.

We have also invested in the NUS Think Positive Initiative which has led to the creation of institution led Student Mental Health Agreements to improve student mental health support in colleges and universities. In addition, the launch of the Think Positive hub, in spring 2022, provides students with extra clarity on how to access student mental health services in colleges and universities.

At the same time we have invested in a comprehensive package of support for mental wellbeing through NHS Scotland and in communities, including an investment of £21 million for adult community based initiatives.

The research laid out in the Mental Health Foundation’s report, ‘Thriving Learners: Initial Findings from Scottish Colleges' together with the Initial Findings from Scottish HEIs, published in November 2021, will inform the Student Mental Health Plan. This Plan is being taken forward by the Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Working Group, and will be published in Spring 2023. The Plan will be shaped by a range of research, evidence and good practice, including the publications mentioned above as well as the NUS Scotland Think Positive Initiative and good practice examples of collaboration between the sector and NHS Scotland on referral pathways.

The Plan will also be aligned with a range of recently published Scottish Government strategies such as the Government’s Suicide Prevention Strategy – ‘Creating Hope Together’, the emerging Self Harm Strategy and the wider Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

Within the South Region of Forestry and Land Scotland, since 2007, the following estimated number of trees (based on normal planting densities per hectare), have been planted by Forestry and Land Scotland in each Local Authority Area:

The Scottish Government does not have a reporting system in place to track instances of damp and mould in all socially rented homes.

Data on the presence of mould and damp is collected through the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS), including from a sample of about 700 social rented homes each year.

Survey results from the SHCS provide an indication of the prevalence of mould and damp in social rented housing. These results are expressed in the following table as percentages of homes with and without mould and damp.

It should be noted that as these results are based on a sample survey, the level of accuracy on the results can vary between +/-1% and +/-3%, as shown in the table. This means that the changes between years in prevalence in mould and damp estimated from the SHCS may not be statistically significant as they are within the margins of error of the survey estimates.

Table 1: Percentage of social sector dwellings with presence of mould and (any rising or penetrating) damp, SHCS 2012 to 2019

The Scottish Government has committed to developing a Bill on the regulation of legal services within this parliamentary session, and will continue to engage with stakeholders representing the consumer and legal perspective taking that forward.

The Home Energy Scotland Grants and Loan Scheme does not directly accredit installers for external wall insulation, however we do require that businesses installing this measure are accredited to the PAS2030 British Standard

Since June we have published our Heat in Buildings Supply Chains Delivery Plan which sets out the practical steps that we are taking to support the growth of the green heat sector.

As part of our Supply Chains Delivery Plan, Skills Development Scotland are currently leading on pathfinder research to build the evidence base in the Glasgow City and Shetland council areas. This will build an understanding of forecast skills demand and identify gaps, providing a model for undertaking such an assessment in other areas. The pathfinder research will be complete spring 2023.

As part of this package of actions, we have also re-launched our previous 'Sustainable Energy Supply Chain Programme' as the ‘Green Heat Installer Engagement Programme’, with a dedicated focus on working with installers in the heat and energy efficiency supply chain.