Chamber and committees

Our Fuel Poverty Strategy, published on 23 December, details how we aim to meet our statutory fuel poverty targets, as set out in the Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act 2019 ("the 2019 Act"). The 2019 Act requires us to meet our 2040 targets both nationwide and within each local authority area, so we recognise that local authorities will be key partners in our efforts to achieve our fuel poverty goals.

Local authority fuel poverty and extreme fuel poverty rates are used to determine the funding allocations for our Area Based energy efficiency schemes (ABS), which are delivered in partnership with local authorities, ensuring money is distributed according to need.

Local authorities are currently required to set out their plans for how to tackle fuel poverty in their Local Housing Strategies (LHS). We will be refreshing our guidance on the fuel poverty requirements of the LHS to reflect the approach taken in our Fuel Poverty Strategy. In future local authorities will also be required to produce Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES), within which they will set out how poor energy efficiency will be removed as a driver of fuel poverty.

The Climate Change (Duties of Public Bodies: Reporting Requirements) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2020 came into force on 9 November 2020. By November 2022, the Order requires Scottish public bodies to report, where applicable, targets for reducing indirect emissions of greenhouse gases. Follow-up guidance, Public Sector Leadership on the Global Climate Emergency , published on 29 October 2021, sets out that public sector leaders must take strong action over the next decade to tackle the significant new challenge of decarbonising the £13.3 billion of annual public sector procurement. The guidance sets out that all relevant and significant areas of an organisation’s indirect emissions should be reported and that, over time, public bodies will be expected to report on their Scope 3 emissions as fully as possible.

The statutory targets to reduce Scotland’s economy-wide emissions to net-zero, set under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 and Climate Change (Emissions Reductions Target) (Scotland) Act 2019, are set at the national level and are not disaggregated to local authority levels.

New regulations, which came into force on 9 November 2020, require around 180 Scottish public bodies by November 2022 to report, where applicable, the body’s target date for achieving zero direct emissions of greenhouse gases (or such other targets that demonstrate how the body is contributing to Scotland achieving its emissions reduction targets) and, where applicable, targets for reducing indirect emissions of greenhouse gases. It is for those public bodies to determine where best to target their resource and effort to support achievement of respective targets to reduce emissions.

The Scottish Government is committed to working in partnership with COSLA, local authorities, and the wide range of public bodies on the shared national endeavour to tackle the global climate emergency.

The Scottish Government and Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN) has collaborated on new guidance, Public Sector Leadership on the Global Climate Emergency, published on 29 October 2021. The Guidance sets out that the public sector is crucial to the implementation of national and local climate policy and that public bodies are expected to show leadership by continuing to reduce their own emissions quickly and will need to reduce emissions close to zero without offsetting for Scotland to meet its national climate change goals.

No investigations have yet been undertaken under section 48 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009.

The Scottish Government has not had any general discussions with the UK Government regarding the potential impact that our regulations and guidance for businesses and workplaces on reducing the risk of COVID-19, might have on their employees in Scotland. However there have been discussions with individual departments about restrictions throughout the pandemic.

All businesses in the UK have a duty to manage workplace risks under existing health and safety legislation, and those with offices or business locations (with staff) in Scotland must also ensure that they adhere to the specific requirements set out in the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 .

Furthermore, information on the UK Government website signposts to Scottish guidance and UK wide employers are reminded to keep in mind their employees needs to abide by regulations and guidance published by the employee’s local administration.

We know that recent energy price rises will cause people to worry. My foremost concern is for households affected by these price rises, particularly those who are in or at risk of fuel poverty. It is worth noting that the setting of tariffs in the gas and electricity markets is reserved to the UK Government and subsequently we have called for action from the UK Government to address these issues. We are committed to using our available powers to support consumers however, that is why we are making £10 million available to help people struggling with their heating costs this Winter.

I would also encourage anyone struggling with their energy bills to get in touch with Home Energy Scotland for advice on how to reduce their fuel costs.

The Scottish Government is committed to working in partnership with COSLA, Local Authorities and the wide range of public bodies on the shared national endeavour to tackle the global climate emergency. All 32 Scottish local authorities signed Scotland’s Climate Change Declaration in 2007 and COSLA recognises the twin climate and biodiversity crisis.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industry Strategy publishes annual National Statistics setting out the latest estimates of end-user carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) emissions for local authority areas. The purpose of these estimates is to assist those wishing to understand and assess changes in emissions from local authority areas. The Statistics show that between 2005 and 2019 end-user CO ₂ emissions fell by 35% in Scotland. The Statistics also provide information on per capita emissions in each local authority area and information on sector emissions.

Evidence-based psychological interventions, based on psychological concepts and theory, are designed to help people understand and make changes to their thinking, behaviour and relationships. These are delivered across a wide range of services in both physical and mental health settings, from brief interventions in primary care to specialist psychological therapies aimed at service users with highly complex and/or enduring mental illness and disorder. Choices over which evidence-based intervention to deliver for specific patient groups are made locally by Health Boards.

Health Boards are also delivering on behavioural change psychology methods to support changes in lifestyle behaviours as part of their implementation of the Framework for the Prevention, Early Detection and Early Intervention for type 2 diabetes , and via delivery of Public Health Scotland’s Standards for delivery of tier 2 and tier 3 weight management services for adults and children and young people .

Silver Cloud, SilverCloud | NHS Lanarkshire (scot.nhs.uk) , is now also available in all Health Boards through referral and for some treatments self-referral options. Silver Cloud provides private and secure access anywhere, anytime to evidence-based, online programs that will help to teach you techniques that helps you reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, low mood or depression associated with Chronic Pain or Diabetes Type 1 & 2. It is also suitable for co-morbid long term health conditions. The treatments are evidence based delivering computerised CBT (cCBT) treatment in people’s homes through smartphone, tablet and home computers and progress of the patient treatment is monitored by local cCBT Teams based in Adult Psychology.

Additionally, in order to ensure consistency in the quality of service delivery across Scotland, the Scottish Government has worked with NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to produce the Psychological Therapies Matrix - a stepped guide to planning and delivering evidence-based psychological therapies within NHS Boards in Scotland. The Matrix provides a summary of the information on the current evidence base for various therapeutic approaches, guidance on well-functioning psychological therapies services, and advice on important governance issues.

Spirometry is already a key recommendation in national clinical guidelines and we expect clinicians to deliver care in line with all relevant clinical guidelines when assessing patients who present themselves at healthcare settings with respiratory symptoms.

We also recognise that data plays an important role in improving services and understanding respiratory care in Scotland. That is why in our Respiratory Care Action Plan we have committed to develop a core respiratory data set that will help us understand the areas for improvement in respiratory care.