Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government, through Home Energy Scotland (HES), already provides free, impartial advice to households both on and off the gas grid on how to decarbonise the energy supply of their homes. This includes a specialist home renewables advice service.

Through the Home Energy Scotland (HES) loan and cashback scheme, we provide interest-free loans of up to £17,500 for renewable measures with an additional 75%, up to £7500 cashback for homeowners to replace fossil fuel heating systems with renewable heating systems.

All households can also access support through the Green Homes Network which allows them to learn from the experience of others who have already installed measures, and the Renewable Installer Finder Tool which helps identify installers and suppliers in their area.

Some owner-occupiers may also be eligible for support via our fully-funded national energy efficiency/fuel poverty scheme - Warmer Homes Scotland – which is providing increasing numbers of renewable heating systems particularly to off-gas grid homes.

These Scottish Government-funded advice and support schemes can be accessed through Home Energy Scotland, run by the Energy Saving Trust.

The Scottish Government, through Home Energy Scotland (HES), already provides free, impartial advice to households both on and off the gas grid on how to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.

Additionally, through the Home Energy Scotland (HES) loan and cashback scheme, we provide interest-free loans of up to £15,000 with an additional 40% cashback up to a total value of £6,000, for homeowners to install energy efficiency measures in order to improve the EPC rating of their property.

Some owner-occupiers may also be eligible for support via our fully-funded energy efficiency/fuel poverty schemes – Warmer Homes Scotland or the local authority Area-Based Schemes.

All these Scottish Government-funded advice and support schemes can be accessed through Home Energy Scotland, run by the Energy Saving Trust.

We have committed to taking action to realise the right to adequate housing in Scotland. To establish the best way to make the right to adequate housing a reality, we have said that we will undertake a comprehensive audit of our current housing and homelessness legislation.

The aim of the audit is to identify where there are gaps in current domestic legislation and where remedies for violations of housing rights can be strengthened. It will assess how well current legislation protects marginalised groups and meets the needs of people with protected characteristics. The audit findings will help us understand how the introduction of a right to adequate housing in Scotland will impact on people's lives.

This work will begin later in 2021.

Due to a technical issue with some electronic ticket machines (ETMs), most operators can only accept cash payment when a Young Scot National Entitlement Card is used for discounted travel. This issue impacts across the UK and relates to the ETMs themselves as opposed to the Transport Scotland travel product on the card.

The ETM suppliers are working to enhance the payment facilities, however the launch of Young Persons Free Bus Travel Scheme in January 2022, will mean this functionality is not required as those aged under 22 will be provided free bus travel.

CalMac Ferries Ltd conducted a vessel inspection prior to the time charter of the MV Arrow to operate the Ullapool – Stornoway freight service. These checks were conducted using Ship Inspection Report Programme (SIRE), an exemplar of vessel inspection, from which no faults were identified.

The technical issue encountered by the MV Arrow was unforeseeable and was due to fishing equipment being caught wrapping around the propeller.

Of the £5M budget available in FY 20-21, £4.8M was spent on the Milngavie platform works. The total cost of the works was £5.55M. The additional funding was provided by Scottish Ministers through funding allocated to Network Rail in Control Period 6.

Emissions associated with vessel activities while in Scottish ports, as well as those associated with travelling between domestic ports and any subsequent outbound journeys from those ports are included in the Scottish greenhouse gas inventory. This treatment applies to all vessels, irrespective of type or nationality.

The Scottish Government has no plans to review the arrangements currently in place through which qualified clinicians, taking on board the patients’ medical history and lifestyle, agree with their patients, on a case-by-case basis, whether they would benefit from opioid substitution treatment (OST) or not. It is for patients and their clinicians to determine what is best for them and this will include agreement on the type and dosage of relevant OST. Methadone remains the most popularly used type of OST in Scotland, and there is strong evidence that supports its use.

From the recently published National Records Scotland (NRS) report on drug related deaths in 2020, methadone, on its own, was implicated in a very small number of deaths (7). However, it is increasingly implicated in deaths alongside other drugs suggesting that poly-drug use and non-compliance with treatment is the biggest factor. To increase our understanding in this area, and to inform policy making going forward, the Scottish Government is commissioning research to investigate the role and risks of methadone in drug related deaths.

Ministers are also keen to make sure as wide a range of OST and other treatment options are available, particularly long-acting buprenorphine – which has been deployed successfully in Scottish prisons throughout the pandemic. In addition, publication of the new Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards on 31 May 2021, emphasises the importance of allowing people to make informed choices about the type of medication and help available to them and to be supported to make an informed choice with regards to what medication to use for MAT.

As I advised Parliament on 26 May, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party committed to exploring opportunities for cooperation and joint working

I am pleased to advise Parliament that the Scottish Government has today published drafts of a joint cooperation agreement and a shared policy programme, Working together to build a greener, fairer, independent Scotland .

https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-and-scottish-green-party-cooperation-agreement

https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-and-scottish-green-party-shared-policy-programme

Together, these set out our plans for close cooperation and collaboration that will allow us to work together to deliver the bold policies and programmes we need for the challenges we face. We are also determined that this new approach will change the dynamic of our politics for the better and in line with the founding principles of our Parliament.

The figures provided are for the Home Energy Scotland (HES) Loan and Cashback scheme and relate to financial years 2017-18 to 2020/21 inclusive.

The Scottish Government launched the HES Loan scheme in 2017-18, merging the previous HEEPS Loan and Home Renewables Loan schemes. Cashback grants for energy efficiency measures were included from the beginning, and a new cashback offer for renewable/zero emissions heating was made available from October 2020.

Total Recipients of Loans and Grants from 2017-18 to 2020-21