Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has not had any discussions with Research Councils UK on this matter, but has held discussions with the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) on research collaboration. Marine Scotland will be involved in the steering groups for a number of relevant projects.

Mitigation can be identified at the strategic level through the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Habitats Regulations Appraisal (HRA) processes. The Scottish Government has undertaken a strategic SEA and HRA for offshore wind energy in Scottish Territorial Waters. An SEA for marine renewables (wave and tidal) was undertaken in 2007. Work is currently beginning on an Appraisal of Sustainability for marine renewables which will refresh the 2007 SEA and also include a strategic level HRA. Further detailed assessment and identification of appropriate mitigation measures for individual developments must be made at the project level.

The Survey, Deploy and Monitor policy, which is currently being developed by Marine Scotland and SNH, will provide a pragmatic, risk based approach to allow the deployment of renewables and will be a key tool to facilitate the delivery of initial demonstration projects. In addition, research and the demonstration strategy are focused on tackling environmental issues.

The licensing process delivers mitigation by ensuring that any licence issued for relevant activities has appropriate conditions. Any conditions put in place with regard to a licence would be enforced by Marine Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-39825 on 9 March 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

A joint review process is in place for Local Housing Strategies, involving Scottish Government and local government officials. Each strategy is reviewed against a number of criteria, including the extent to which fuel poverty, energy efficiency and climate change have been addressed. We expect most local authorities will publish the review of their Local Housing Strategy on their websites, and we are discussing detailed publication arrangements with COSLA. To strengthen climate change coverage in Local Housing Strategies and further help local authorities meet the duties they have as public bodies under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 the Scottish Government and COSLA will shortly be issuing additional guidance.

The Energy Saving Scotland home loans pathfinder scheme was available across Scotland and home loans have continued to be available in Home Insulation Scheme and Universal Home Insulation Scheme areas.

Following the completion of the home loans evaluation and in the context of the Feed-In Tariff and Renewable Heat Incentive, we have just announced a further round of home loans funding to support micro renewables installations. More information on this scheme is available from the Energy Saving Scotland advice network who can be contacted on 0800 512 012.

The Scottish Private Rented Sector Strategy Group considered this issue and acknowledged that there is a need to improve energy efficiency across all sectors including the private rented sector. It concluded that regulation of energy efficiency standards in the private rented sector should be looked at alongside the owner occupier sector and this was reflected in its final consultation recommendations report published in December 2009.

Regulation will be pursued using the powers available under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 and a report will be published by the end of March 2011 setting out when Scottish ministers intend to make provision in respect of various sections in the act.

The Scottish Government will also continue to work with Energy Saving Trust to encourage voluntary action by landlords to improve energy efficiency measures.

The question of what should replace the reporting duties of local authorities in relation to action to improve the energy efficiency of housing stock in their area under the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 (HECA) was considered as part of the consultation on the Energy Efficiency Action Plan. This reflected the new context following introduction of the Climate Change Act and the need significantly to increase impetus and focus in delivering energy efficiency. Most respondents said they did not want HECA to remain as a distinct duty on local councils, and half of the respondents supported moves to address energy efficiency in housing through Local Housing Strategies (LHSs). Existing guidance on Local Housing Strategies includes advice on setting targets for the eradication of fuel poverty. In line with the response to the consultation on the future of HECA, since 2007 we have been developing our strategic approach, while aiming to reduce the burden of reporting on local councils.

We will shortly publish, jointly with COSLA, supplementary guidance (Supplementary Guidance on Addressing Climate Change in Local Housing Strategies) which will further support councils in taking action on energy efficiency, assisting them to fulfil the duties they have as public bodies under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. This guidance follows HECA in placing on councils the responsibility for setting targets and monitoring progress at local authority level, but goes further by encouraging them to link action on energy efficiency with related strategies to improve the quality of housing stock in their area, and by providing them with advice on the range of powers, duties, resources and information at their disposal to help them to do this.

The Scottish Government carried out a consultation on Conserve and Save: Consultation on the Energy Efficiency Action Plan for Scotland in late 2009. The analysis of the consultation responses were published in April 2010 on the Scottish Government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/04/15164620/0.

Annex 1, question 28 provides details to the consultation question on whether local authorities should retain a duty to promote energy efficiency for housing in their area.

Half of all respondents favoured the alternative mechanism of incorporation into the Local Housing Strategy and Single Outcome Agreement processes. 21% supported the retention of a HECA duty while 29% made other suggestions or comments.

The Scottish Government''s draft Report on Proposals and Policies sets out how its emission reduction targets can be met each year to 2022, including the expected contribution from homes and communities. These proposals and policies do not centre on the achievement of an average standard in all homes. Rather our approach focuses on promoting the most cost-effective and beneficial approaches to meeting the emissions required in each sector. Similarly, our policy to tackle fuel poverty does not centre on the achievement of an average standard in all Scotland''s housing.

This information is not held centrally and I have asked the Chief Executive of Scottish Water to reply to the member.