Chamber and committees

As stated in response to S6W-15209, the Interim Report of the Green Heat Finance Taskforce is due to be published in spring this year and will complement other publications which are also due, as per commitments in the Heat in Buildings Strategy (2021). This Interim Report will be published shortly.

The Interim Report will focus in on potential finance and funding solutions for individual property owners which address barriers and gaps identified by the Taskforce which constrain the uptake of existing products. This will be followed by a final report towards the end of the year which will focus on communal, or place based mechanisms, and will incorporate recommendations for the social housing sector.

According to the Microgeneration Certification Scheme’s publicly-accessible MCS Data Dashboard, there were 5,326 MCS certified small-scale low-carbon heating system installations in 2022.

The MCS figures come with the following caveats:

• For the purposes of answering this question, “low-carbon heating systems” comprise (i) Air Source Heat Pumps, (ii) Biomass, (iii) Ground/Water Source Heat Pumps, (iv) Micro CHP, (v) Other Heat Pump Types, and (vi) Solar Thermal.
• MCS certification is not a mandatory requirement, so MCS data does not capture all small-scale renewable energy installations in Scotland. However, as MCS is often a route to government incentives, it is likely to represent a significant proportion of deployment.
• Most installations registered with MCS are in the retrofit market. However, MCS may capture some new-build installations if contractors have chosen to register their installations with MCS.

Ministers will continue to meet COSLA and individual local authorities on a regular basis to cover a range of issues, including adaptation to the impact of climate change.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with COSLA and SOLACE to agree a New Deal for Local Government in Scotland with the aim of providing greater flexibility over local funding, with clear accountability for delivery on shared priorities and outcomes, such as climate change.

In February, I wrote to COSLA setting out my view that tackling flooding remains a top priority for the Scottish Government and developing a level of resilience to our future flood exposure is one of our greatest climate challenges. The Scottish Government remains committed to improving flood resilience in Scotland, and it is imperative that we make best use of the resources already allocated for this. I have also encouraged COSLA to play an active part in consultation on new a flooding strategy for Scotland recognising how we can build community flood resilience and engage a broader range of delivery partners to deliver more diverse flood management actions faster. A joint Scottish Government/COSLA Flood Risk Management Working Group is considering funding arrangements for flood risk management actions going forward. Managing our exposure to floods and their impacts is a significant and growing challenge as climate change brings more severe and frequent flood events.

We are in discussion with COSLA and the Scottish Cities Alliance about the development of a framework between national and local government to agree shared actions and approaches to delivering climate change action, enabling better alignment between national and local targets and to jointly address the challenges and barriers to delivery.

The Scottish Government is engaged with COSLA regarding the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021 on multiple fronts.

A paper on heat networks regulations was presented to the COSLA Environment and Economy policy board on 3 March 2023 to update the board on progress in developing the duties contained in the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021 and make members aware of potential impacts of this work on local authorities.

COSLA are also represented on our Stakeholder Engagement Groups, which advise on the implementation of the Act and have so far covered Building Assessment Reports and Heat Network Zones. The groups are now advising on the secondary legislation relating to Heat Network Zone Permits and a Local Authority Cost Strategy.

More widely, in our Heat in Buildings Strategy the Scottish Government committed to “work with COSLA to strengthen and integrate governance arrangements on heat and energy efficiency, to ensure effective delivery over the long term.” A liaison role was created in 2022 to provide capacity within COSLA to engage across the Heat in Buildings programme and embed a partnership approach. This resulted in the establishment of the Heat in Buildings Local Government Oversight group, which meets on a regular basis to provide a forum for dialog between relevant Scottish Government and COSLA officials on the Heat in Buildings programme and wider heat transition. The first meeting of this group was held on 6 March 2023 and included discussion on the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021 and the regulatory framework that is being introduced as a result. COSLA also sit on the Independent Strategic Board for Heat and Energy Efficiency Scotland, which last met on 18 April 2023.

In 2023-24 local authorities will receive funding through the local government finance settlement of nearly £13.5 billion. Local authorities also have a range of revenue raising powers that are not available to other public services.

The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of funding is provided by means of the block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, on the basis of local needs and priorities, including with regards to climate adaptation, to having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

While local authorities are responsible for setting their own budgets, the total funding provided by the Scottish Government will increase by over £793 million in 2023-24 compared with the 2022-23 budget. Decisions on budget allocations for future years are subject to negotiation with COSLA and the results will be confirmed as part of future Scottish Budgets.

By way of example £42 million is provided to local authorities annually for flood risk management, with an additional £150 million announced for investment over this Parliament. Additionally, £11.7 million for coastal change adaptation is available to support coastal local authorities over the course of this Parliament.

As set out in our Heat in Buildings Strategy (published in October 2021), the equivalent of 50,000 non-domestic buildings must convert to zero emissions heating by 2030 in order to meet our interim climate targets. We will therefore consult during 2023 on a Heat in Buildings Bill to phase out fossil fuel boilers in Scotland’s homes and buildings and move to clean heating systems.

Since the size and energy consumption of our non-domestic buildings varies considerably, we said in our 2022 Climate Change Plan Monitoring Report that we would adopt a more appropriate indicator based on fossil fuel heat demand. Converting the equivalent of 50,000 non-domestic buildings (existing in 2020) to zero emissions heat by 2030 would bring the commercial sector fossil fuel heat consumption to 5,000 GWh or less.

The latest data for fossil fuel heat consumption from the commercial sector was 11,170 GWh in 2020. We will develop our approach for this indicator as part of our Heat in Buildings Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, due later this year, and use that in future monitoring.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17263 on 4 May 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The estimated number and percentage of domestic properties by Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) energy efficiency rating band are published in the ‘Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS): Key Findings’ report.

The latest published data are available at: Scottish house condition survey: 2019 key findings , which show that around 1.4 million dwellings, representing 55% of the housing stock had an EPC rating lower than Band C (based on the latest SAP 2012 EPC methodology).

The latest estimates are for 2019. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the fieldwork for the 2020 SHCS was suspended in March 2020 and did not resume. The 2021 SHCS was also impacted and was undertaken using a non-contact external plus approach. The results are not directly comparable to those from previous years and will be published as experimental statistics on 30 May 2023.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17264 on 4 May 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

As a government, we are convinced that hydrogen, alongside renewable electricity, will play an extremely important part in our energy system going forward. We are scaling up renewable energy and taking action to transform and expand Scotland’s energy generation sector. The draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan which is open for consultation until 9 May, sets out actions to ensure that Scotland is home to a multi-skilled energy workforce, boosting our domestic supply chain and manufacturing capabilities.

Through the National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET), the Scottish Government is driving forward the transformation of Scotland’s Economy by committing to six programmes of action that will focus on stimulating entrepreneurship; opening new markets; increasing productivity; developing the skills we need for the decade ahead; ensuring fairer and more equal economic opportunities; and creating a new culture of delivery. We have established a clear set of metrics, which we will use to assess our performance against the long-term objectives set in NSET, and have been chosen to represent the key areas where NSET seeks to shift the dial.