Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-23325

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 21 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of all active funding streams within the (a) Energy and Climate Change and (b) Environment and Forestry directorate, broken down by the (i) purpose of, (ii) launch and end dates of, (iii) total value of and (iv) total amount awarded to date through each funding stream.

The Funding Streams are:

Funding Stream	Purpose	Launch Date	Scheduled End Date	Total Value (Lifetime of Fund (1)	Amount Awarded to Date
Directorate for Energy and Climate Change
SME Loan Scheme	SME Loan and Cashback Scheme.	2008	Ongoing	N/A	£55m to end October 2023.
District Heating Loan Fund (DHLF)	Provides capital loans for zero direct emission heat networks in order to overcome a range of infrastructural issues and help towards implementation costs of heat network projects.	2011	Ongoing	£20.1m	£20.1m
Area Based Schemes	Targets areas to improve energy efficiency of `hard to treat’ properties and remove this as a driver of fuel poverty whilst also reducing CO2 emissions.	April 2013	Ongoing	£611.7m	£474.8m
WABS Loan	To provide loan funding for households to help with the costs of any customer contributions needed under grant funded WHS and ABS programmes.	April 2026	Ongoing	N/A	£820,298 to end October 2023.
Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan Scheme	To provide funding to registered private landlords in Scotland for energy efficiency and clean heating measures.	April 2020	Ongoing	N/A	As of August 2023, £1.3mn of funding has been awarded.
Energy Transition Fund (ETF)	Supporting the North East of Scotland in transitioning away from Oil and Gas to Renewables.	June 2020	April 2025	Up to £75m	£64.6m over 4 projects
Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund	To support Registered Landlords install zero emission/clean heating and energy efficiency measures in their existing housing stock.	August 2020	March 2026	£200m (2)	£52.6m
Emerging Energy Technologies Fund (EETF)	The £180m Emerging Energy Technologies Fund (EETF) aims to support the development of the Hydrogen sector and Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS), including Negative Emissions Technologies (NETs) in Scotland. The Hydrogen Action Plan, published on 14 December 2022, confirmed that up to £100m would be made available to support renewable hydrogen production. To support the development and accelerate projects within the Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) sector in Scotland, £80m of EETF funding was directed to projects supporting the development of a CCUS transport and storage network, that will also further enable NETs projects to develop in Scotland.	December 2020	2026	Up to £180m	Hydrogen: Hydrogen Innovation Scheme (HIS): £7m funding allocated to 32 projects in May 2023. CCUS: No awards have been made to date as, due to the UK Government failing to award Track 1 status to Acorn. We are also awaiting confirmation that Acorn will receive Track 2 funding. Subsequently it has not been possible to deploy this support at present.
Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (SIETF)	Match-funding grant programme for industrial manufacturing sites to invest in energy efficiency or decarbonisation.	December 2020	March 2026	Up to £34m	£9.9m
CARES (current contract/active funding stream 2021 – 2025)	CARES aims to help communities engage in and benefit from the energy transition to net zero. ‎ The current CARES contract, with LES, commenced on 1 April 2021 and will run until 31 March 2025.	1 April 2021	31 March 2025	21/22 to 23/34: £27,050,000 (includes resource costs for administration and management of the scheme).	Total: £11,264,840 (includes funding approved by panel for 23/24 but which is still going through due diligence).
Green Public Sector Estate Decarbonisation Scheme	To support public sector organisations to complete retrofit heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency projects across their estates.	June 2021	March 2026	£200m (2)	£70.9m
Scotland’s Heat Network Fund (SHNF)	SHNF- aims to accelerate deployment of zero emission heat networks. SHNF replaces LCITP below.	February 2022	March 2026	£300m	£10.1m
CO2 Utilisation Challenge Fund	To support the development and demonstration of technologies that can utilise carbon dioxide and transform into products that have market and commercial value.	11 April 2022	Scheduled end date is April 2024.	£5m	No awards have been made to date. (We are working with Scottish Enterprise to administer this fund which is currently open for expressions of interest.)
Just Transition Fund Capacity Building	The Bute House Agreement commits to a Just Transition Fund that will "support and accelerate the transition of the region [North East and Moray] and support the role of Aberdeen and the wider north east as one of Scotland’s centres of excellence for the transition to a net zero economy".	31 May 2022	2032/33	£250,000 ‎ (for 23/24)	£70,250
North East and Moray Just Transition Fund	The Bute House Agreement commits to a Just Transition Fund that will "support and accelerate the transition of the region [North East and Moray] and support the role of Aberdeen and the wider north east as one of Scotland’s centres of excellence for the transition to a net zero economy".	31 May 2022	2032/33	£75m	£44.2m
Heat Network Support Unit	The HNSU supports the development of new low or zero emission heat network projects through expert advice and/or grant funding for the costs associated with the conduction of a detailed feasibility study or detailed project development (i.e. Outline Business Case) a heat network opportunity.	September 2022	Ongoing	Not set	£593,944
Global Renewables Centre (GRC)	To fund the Global Renewables Centre.	27 October 2022	26 October 2025	£86,566 (for 2023/24)	£86,566
National Framework on L&D (ICCCAD)	Funding to generate and share innovative thinking and research on addressing loss and damage at different institutional levels through a series of case studies in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia.	October 2022	December 2023	£150,000	£150,000
Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan Scheme	To provide funding to homeowners in Scotland for energy efficiency and clean heating measures.	December 2022	Ongoing	N/A	As of October 2023, £64mn of funding has been awarded. Please note, this will include applications approved under the previous scheme iteration, but funding was paid since the launch of the new scheme.
Energy Saving Trust grant-funded activities 2023-24		April 2023	March 2024	£21.3m	£10m (Remaining budget will be allocated out over remainder of this financial year.)
Climate Action Hubs	Climate Action Hubs raise awareness of the climate crisis and support communities to work together and develop actions that can help them adapt to and tackle the impacts of climate change.	1 April 2023	2025/26	£15,900,000	£3,900,000
Human Rights Defenders Fellowship	Gender - allows human rights defenders from the Global South to spend several months in Scotland to rest, develop their work, skills and extend their networks in a safe place.	June 2023	31 March 2024	£50,000	£50,000
Climate Engagement Fund	The fund aims to build understanding of the climate emergency across communities, by offering support for climate engagement activities.	27 July 2023	Yet to be determined	£1,650,000	£565,000
Additional Human Rights Defenders	Gender - Human Rights Defender Fellowships - allows human rights defenders from other countries to spend several months in Scotland to rest, develop their work, skills and extend their networks in a safe place. We are currently supporting two woman from the Global South, this is for an additional fellowship.	July 2023	31 March 2024	£40,000	£40,000
Climate Just Communities	Climate Justice - Delivering interventions that build resilient and inclusive communities in Malawi, Rwanda & Zambia. Achieved via participatory actions to identify local priorities linked to the material and social impacts of climate change. Empowering the most marginalised within communities (including but not limited, gender, age, disability, status).	August 2023	2025/26	£24,000,000	£24,000,000
SCIAF - Storm Freddy	National frameworks research to identify opportunities for integrating ways to address losses and damages within national policies, and finance and planning frameworks and loss and damage Conference in Oct 2022.	September 2023	31 March 2024	£300,000	£300,000
Non Economic Loss and Damage - Climate Justice Resilience Fund	Loss and Damage - co-designed programme that is gender-responsive in addressing non-economic loss and damage impacts (NELD) caused by climate change. Multi country.	September 2023	2025/26	£5,000,000	£5,000,000
Warmer Homes Scotland	Scotland’s national fuel poverty scheme, designed to help those living in fuel poverty or at risk of fuel poverty through installing insulation and heating measures in to individual properties.	October 2023	02/10/2028 ‎ (with the option to extend by 2 years – 02/10/2030)	Maximum contract value of £728m (ex. VAT) if contract runs for 7 years and all additional scale up options are used.	£13.8m This represents funding allocated from the launch of phase 2 of the scheme in October 2023. Phase 1 ended on 29 November 2023.
C40 urban migration programme	Loss and Damage - to demonstrate how through inclusive climate action, cities can deliver climate justice for the most vulnerable residents - by building their resilience to climate impacts and addressing loss and damages they may face, promoting a just and fair transition.	October 2023	31 March 2024	£1,000,000	£1,000,000
GiveDirectly	Loss and Damage - to fund a partnership with GiveDirectly for social protection programmes in Malawi.	October 2023	31 March 2024	£1,000,000	£1,000,000
Humanitarian Emergency Fund	Loss and Damage - to fund loss and damage projects in Pakistan, Zambia, Kenya and Ethiopia through Scotland’s Humanitarian Emergency Fund, that are gender responsive.	December 2023	31 March 2024	£1,000,000	£1,000,000
Directorate for Environment and Forestry
Local air quality management 2023/24	Supports local authorities in undertaking the air quality monitoring and associated activities.	1999 (3)	Ongoing	£8.5 million	£7.7 million
Recycling Improvement Fund	Recycling Improvement Fund - capital funding grants for local authorities administered through ZWS to improve recycling infrastructure and services across Scotland.	April 2021	31 March 2026	£70 million	£60,336,984
Circular Textiles Fund	Delivery of Circular Textiles Fund - to help reduce the environmental impact of textiles. The fund aims to support the development of circular supply chains in Scotland.	June 2022	March 2024	£2,000,000	No funding was awarded financial year 22/23; ‎ Zero Waste Scotland are actively working with businesses to develop their proposals for FY 23/24
Nature Restoration Fund:	Supporting multi-year, multi-partner larger scale projects that will restore nature, safeguard wildlife and tackle the causes of biodiversity loss and climate change.	July 2021	Funding will be provided until end of FY 2025-26 under the current scheme, pending any decision to renew	£65 Million over the course of this Parliament (plus an additional £5 Million in 2023-24 to help develop Nature Networks)	£34 Million (plus £5 Million for Nature Networks)
General operating costs and delivery of clean air day 2023 in Scotland	General operating costs and delivery of clean air day 2023 in Scotland.	2017	Ongoing	£467,000	£467,000
Vehicle Emissions Testing Grant	Supports local authorities to undertake roadside emissions testing (to assess whether vehicles are meeting legal emissions standards) and enforce anti vehicle idling legislation to reduce air pollution, prioritising action at local hot spots.	2003 (3)	Ongoing	£10.5 million	£10.5 million
Air Quality Action Grant	Support for implementing local authority air quality action plan measures.	2008 (3)	Ongoing	£13.8 million	£12.48 million
Scottish Government Programmes of Research 2022-2027: Offer of Grant for Research Activity 2023-2024	Delivery of Research Projects within the Strategic Research Programme 2022-2027, Underpinning National Capacity, Knowledge Exchange and Management.	April 2023	March 2023	£38.1 million	£38.1 million
Scottish Government Programmes of Research: Responsive Research Fund	2023 BES Policy Fellowship Scheme & Support for the Multifunctional Landscapes Project in Scotland.	April 2023	Ongoing	£400,000	£347,000
Scottish Forum on Natural Capital 2023-24	To support the planned deliverables of the Forum.	April 2023	March 2024	N/A	2023/24 - £30,500
Development and delivery of Central Scotland Green Network (CSGN)	Delivery of Central Scotland Green Network (CSGN).	2009	Ongoing	N/A	£0.995m in 23/24
FIRNS (Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotlan	To help create a pipeline of market-ready projects to help attract responsible private investment in Scotland’s nature.	Announced February 2023, First Funding awards committed September 2023	March 2026	£1.8m SG/NatureScot £1.8m National Lottery Heritage Fund	£1.8m SG/NatureScot We do not hold NLHF data

(1)Figures provided are based on agreed Budgets. Future funding will be awarded to ongoing programmes on an annual basis.

(2)Funds are in the process of awarding further grants to applications that were received in the October application checkpoint.

(3)Figures provided from 2013 onwards.

Question reference: S6W-23919

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of installed renewable energy generation capacity by local authority area.

Electricity and heat capacity data broken down by local authority area are publicly available on the Scottish Energy Statistics Hub. Data tables can be found at the bottom of the following pages. Local authority data can be accessed by clicking the ‘Local authority’ tab above each data table.

Electricity: https://scotland.shinyapps.io/Energy/?Section=RenLowCarbon&Subsection=RenElec&Chart=RenElecCapacity

Heat: https://scotland.shinyapps.io/Energy/?Section=RenLowCarbon&Subsection=RenHeat&Chart=RenHeatTech

Question reference: S6W-23995

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown by local authority area of investments made by the Scottish National Investment Bank in each year since it was established.

The Scottish National Investment Bank (the Bank) reports on the Scottish local authority areas that have benefitted from its investments through its annual Impact Report. The Impact Report 2023, setting out the impacts of the Bank’s investment to the close of 2022, showed that 20 of Scotland’s local authority areas had benefitted from the Bank’s investments. An update will be published in the Bank’s Impact Report 2024.

Furthermore, the Bank provides a representative map of its investment portfolio on the Bank’s portfolio webpage. However, it is important to note that although a Bank’s investee may be headquartered in a single location, the impact the investment is having can be further widespread.

Question reference: S6W-23832

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 19 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23288 by Gillian Martin on 8 December 2023, what proportion of the estimated private investment in peatland restoration is carbon units that are (a) confirmed as sold and (b) expected to be sold.

Question reference: S6W-23789

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23282 by Michael Matheson on 7 December 2023, which NHS boards have (a) completed, (b) yet to complete and (c) yet to start their adaptation plans.

Question reference: S6W-23563

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 19 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken on the potential to reduce any upfront planning costs for district heating, and what effect this could have on project margins.

During our regular engagement with the heat networks sector, the costs of planning applications has not been cited as a major barrier to new developments. The Scottish Government has therefore not undertaken any analysis into the effect that these costs have on the profit margin for district heating projects.

The fee for submitting a planning application is to be calculated in accordance with the provisions of The Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications) (Scotland) Regulations 2022 and it is for the relevant planning authority to calculate the appropriate fee based on the nature and scale of any individual development.

Meanwhile, all local authorities are developing Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES) that will identify potential district heating opportunities. Local authorities can receive support in developing potential projects from Heat Network Support Unit which can help to commercialise such opportunities.

Our non domestic rates reliefs can also support the viability of district heating projects, and we continue to work to implement the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act which will provide new powers to some operators and developers that are designed to make it quicker and less costly to construct and maintain these systems.

Question reference: S6W-23562

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 19 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recommendation 22 in the report, Investor Panel, Mobilising international capital to help finance the transition to Net Zero, on whether public sector connections to heat grids should be mandatory.

The Scottish Government recognises that we must do more to attract the investment required if we are to fulfil the potential that the heat network sector has in Scotland and create a sustainable market. Reducing demand risk is one of the ways of achieving this.

We are working to develop potential new legislation on public sector organisations regarding connection to heat networks. We aim to consult on this during 2024-25, having first engaged with public sector partners.

Additionally, on 28 November we published a consultation on a Heat in Buildings Bill in which we seek views on the proposal to: Provide local authorities and the Scottish Ministers with powers to require other buildings within a Heat Network Zone to end their use of polluting heating systems (by a certain date and with a minimum notice period).

Question reference: S6W-23561

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 19 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what public finances have been committed, in each of the last five years, to using green hydrogen in industrial decarbonisation.

The Hydrogen Action Plan, published in December 2022, set out a clear commitment to support renewable hydrogen production.

In May 2023, a funding award totalling over £7 million to thirty-one projects via the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme was announced, which supports innovation in the production, storage, and integration of renewable hydrogen. Thirty of these projects are now underway.

The Energy Transition Fund and the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund were launched in June and September 2020 respectively.

Question reference: S6W-23788

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 15 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22893 by Lorna Slater on 22 November 2023, when it will next update its Deposit Return Scheme impact assessment ahead of its proposed introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme in 2025.

Question reference: S6W-23560

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 14 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of investments made by the Scottish National Investment Bank in ScotWind supply chain partners in each year since it was established.

The Scottish National Investment Bank (the Bank) is extensively engaged in work to understand the market gaps and areas of opportunity in the offshore wind supply chain.

Details of each of the Bank’s investments are published online in the Bank’s portfolio webpage. This webpage provides a breakdown of the Bank’s investments by primary mission and also provides further details on each investment such as listing any co-investors and a summary of what the investment will achieve.

The Bank has, to date, made investment commitments of £463.2 million across 29 investments. As the Bank’s Impact Report 2023 sets out, from launch to 31 December 2022 these investments have generated approximately 1.8 GWh of renewable energy, powering the equivalent of 472 homes in a year.

The Bank has concluded a number of offshore wind supply chain investments.

The £35m investment into the Port of Aberdeen (concluded in January 2022) to support the development of the new South Harbour facility. This expansion will provide greater land and water access for offshore wind developers, playing a vital role in the ScotWind supply chain.

The £50m investment into North Star Renewables (concluded in December 2022), as part of a wider £140m finance facility, to build service operation vessels. These vessels are critical in supporting the installation, operation and maintenance of wind farms as they increase in size and distance from shore.

Furthermore the Bank’s £6.6m investment in Verlume (concluded in April 2023) demonstrates the importance of innovative technology in supporting offshore wind developments. Verlume uses intelligent energy management to deliver a constant output of power from renewable sources and minimises energy loss from electricity generated from offshore wind.

Chamber and committees