Chamber and committees

It seems that heat in buildings is one of the most complex areas because of the sheer variety of configurations and construction of buildings. There is no one-size-fits-all model. Solutions for blocks of flats and so on do not appear to be there yet, and it is not clear to me where that is going. Are we satisfied that we have people who have the skills and the ability to understand these complex problems and come up with solutions?

When you put in your bid, were there any concerns at all about the affordability of the contract or your ability to deliver?

At what point did you deduce that things were going badly? In other words, when did the impact of Covid hit, initially, and how did you respond to that?

Mistakes made on such things are costly.

Let me move on to the key question that I want to ask, which is about governance. This committee has often considered governance, and on many occasions we have seen that it is deficient. The Auditor General’s report said that there was concern about governance arrangements that had not been finalised. We understand that different programmes and risk management is in place, and Roy Brannen touched on the fact that you had improved governance. Would you like to tell us a little bit more about that? Do those improvements cover all of the issues that the Auditor General raised?

The Scottish Government is developing a delivery plan for the heat in buildings strategy, which is supposed to be published by the end of 2024. Are we on track with that?

Did the other two organisations that were initially interested withdraw or were they eliminated on the basis of cost and ability to deliver?

You seem to be telling us that south of the border the service involves court cases and court attendance only, whereas the contract that you took on in Scotland includes hospital appointments, funerals and all the things that go with those. Is that right?

I want to pick up on something that the convener has talked about in relation to the numbers of heat pumps that have been installed. Do you monitor when the heat pumps have been deinstalled? I installed a ground-source heat pump; it was rubbish and cost a fortune, so I had to get rid of it. I know that many people have had the same experience—partly, because they have the wrong type of property. Do you monitor that, or is my heat pump still in your list as being installed?

So the overall governance arrangements are not yet in place and are still evolving—is that right?

That is a good answer. Thank you.

How are you ensuring that you have the staff and the skills that are needed to deliver the heat in buildings programme in the medium term? We hear all the time about huge shortages of people who are trained and skilled in this area, and that is certainly borne out by what we hear in the market. What is happening? How are you addressing that?