Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is concerned at the decision by the UK Government to end the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Scheme and continues to press UK Ministers on the need for a successor scheme to the RHI, given RHI is due to end in March 2021. It is imperative that financial support for the transition to low carbon heating technologies is maintained, especially in light of the declared climate emergency.

The Scottish Government provides additional support to help households and businesses install low carbon heating technologies and to access the RHI. This includes the Home Energy Scotland and Resource Efficient Scotland advice services; low cost and interest free loans to help households and businesses spread the upfront costs of investment; as well as the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme, which is installing renewable heat measures in the homes of fuel poor households.

The Scottish Government already supports the uptake of thermal and electric battery storage to help reduce fuel costs for consumers and businesses, including large scale demonstration projects such as deployment of heat batteries alongside solar photo voltaic panels in partnership with Castle Rock Edinvar Housing Association in the Lothians. It is important that any storage technology provides value for money, taking into account the upfront costs and lifetime savings offered in a variety of applications.

Scottish Government loan schemes provide interest free loans to households and low interest loans for small and medium sized businesses for the installation of battery storage equipment. In addition, our Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme and Local Energy Challenge Fund have awarded over £5 million to demonstrate the use of innovative battery and heat storage technologies in social housing.

Scottish Government has committed to producing an update to the Climate Change Plan by the end of April 2019. In addition, we are revising our climate change public engagement strategy and hope to publish a new strategy in Spring 2020, setting out our approach to engaging the Scottish public on climate change and encouraging them to participate in the transition to net-zero emissions.

In summer 2019 over 500 people took part in ten public workshops held across urban and rural Scotland to discuss the response to the Global Climate Emergency. In addition, more than 100 community groups held their own Big Climate Conversation. Our Energy Consumer Action Plan includes an action to involve the people of Scotland in shaping Scotland’s future energy policy.

For information on current support and advice for householders for energy efficiency measures and low carbon technology, I refer the member to the answer to question S5W- 26396 on 28 November 2019. 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

The Scottish Government is concerned that many energy consumers in Scotland continue to struggle to access the full benefit of the energy market, the regulation of which remains, at present, a reserved matter, and therefore the responsibility of UK Ministers under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. However, in particular we are aware that, in areas with a higher number of off-gas grid households, energy bills are generally higher. Levels of fuel poverty amongst off-gas grid consumers also tend to be higher and, while we cannot directly intervene in the market, we seek to influence regulatory action and the actions of energy suppliers and use our devolved powers, in areas such as energy efficiency, to address this challenge.

The Scottish Government has recently passed the Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act 2019 setting out ambitious targets to tackle fuel poverty. We already invest significant sums to tackle fuel poverty in Scotland through our Home Energy Efficiency Programmes and will continue to do so. For off-gas consumers who are reliant on electric heating, Home Energy Scotland now provides specialist advice and support to help reduce bills.

For as long as energy markets remain reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government’s available actions are limited. Within this context, the Scottish Government will continue to work closely with the UK Government to ensure they deliver a more equitable energy market for Scottish consumers who are in premises that are off the gas grid.

The Scottish Government funds Home Energy Scotland which provides free and impartial advice on energy efficiency, renewables and energy storage.

Home Energy Scotland provides a 'one-stop shop' with tailored advice, home visits and access to a range of loan and grant schemes, including the Scottish Government’s Energy Efficient Scotland and national fuel poverty programmes, and the UK Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive. It also provides access to the Green Homes Network. The Home Energy Scotland advice service makes it easier for consumers to access advice and support, enabling them to save energy, money and carbon through changing their buying and usage behaviours.

The Scottish Wildcat Action (SWA) partnership, which includes the Scottish Government, has been involved in the GPS tracking of wildcats over the past two years, as part of a collaboration with the University of Oxford.

One of the objectives of this research is to improve our knowledge of wildcat den site locations and the factors that influence their selection. A second objective is to better understand habitat preference of wildcats, including their use of commercially managed forests. In addition, SWA partners (through Forestry and Land Scotland) have been trialling the creation of den sites in the Angus Glens and have been monitoring the use of these dens over the past year.

Findings from both these research projects will be published within the final report of the SWA project by the end of March 2020.

Data from the ongoing Scottish Wildcat Action research is fed back to Forestry and Land Scotland staff and used to inform the management of forestry operations, for example in ensuring appropriate mitigation is in place around den and rest sites. The current guidance is set out in Guidance note 35d – Forest Operations and Wildcats.

It is expected that in due course the research will inform a revised Forest Operations and Wildcats guidance note, and updated guidance on the Scottish Natural Heritage website.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lives of autistic people in Scotland. We are committed to implementing the priorities as laid out in the refreshed Scottish Strategy for Autism Outcomes and Priorities 2018-2021.

Since 2013-14 the Scottish Government has provided funding of £671,000 to NHS Education for Scotland to support Autism Training resources for NHS professionals.

In 2014 NHS Education for Scotland published Optimising Outcomes: A framework for all staff working with people with Autism Spectrum Disorders, their families and carers . This highlights that training should be appropriately given to health care staff depending on the level of knowledge and expertise demanded by their role.

We continue to commission NHS Education Scotland to engage with NHS Boards on the Autism Training Framework and work continues with a knowledge hub available to all NHS staff ensuring they have the appropriate knowledge of autism relevant to their role. This work is led by a small dedicated team. The team are planning to deliver further training in assessment and diagnostic tools early in 2020.

Wildcats are one of Scotland’s most endangered animals. Their conservation and protection is of the highest priority requiring a well-informed and collaborative approach to understanding their ecology to give their remaining populations the best possible chance of recovery.

The Scottish Wildcat Action (SWA) project, led by SNH involves a partnership of over twenty organisations, including Scotland’s foremost conservation bodies and land management organisations. The project is building understanding of Scottish Wildcat populations and has identified six priority areas, including Clashindarroch Forest, where detailed survey work and an extensive feral cat neutering and vaccination programme to preclude interbreeding is being undertaken to protect the remaining wildcats.

FLS (and its predecessor Forest Enterprise Scotland) has worked closely with SWA partners since October 2013 to ensure that the management of Clashindarroch, and other parts of Scotland forests and land, enhances their value as important habitat for wildcats. Wildcats have successfully co-existed with forest management activities at Clashindarroch for many years and FLS’s aim is to ensure that success continues.

The interest and passion that people demonstrate towards Scottish Wildcat is entirely laudable however the campaign and petition are based largely on a presumption that their habitats are under threat from forest operations. FLS’s forest management, including at Clashindarroch, is certified to international standards of best practice. Widely accepted scientific evidence recognises that sustainably managed forests involving well-planned timber production create an ideal mosaic of habitats for wildcats.

The following measures are being, or have been, taken in Clashindarroch Forest:

• During the winter of 2015-16 and again in 2017-18, Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) and Scottish Wildcat Action (SWA) partners employed extensive camera trapping surveys to gain a picture of wildcats presence throughout Clashindarroch Forest.
• All actual or potential wildcat sightings are recorded on the FLS conservation database to inform future management.
• At least six months prior to any tree felling or thinning operation, camera traps are deployed on all operational sites. The cameras are placed at potential den features (e.g. stone dykes, windblown trees or scrub) within each management area.
• Four to six weeks prior to any forest operations, walk-over surveys of each site is carried out by an FLS environment specialist and SWA field staff. If evidence of wildcat presence is found expert advice is sought over appropriate mitigation.
• Pior to operations commencing, all operators are briefed about wildcats being present in the forest, and are provided with an FLS/SWA guidance note.
• Operations such as clear felling, thinning and site cultivation are undertaken out-with the period March to June inclusive in areas where wildcat activity has been previously identified by camera trapping or GPS collar tracking.
• On all thinning and clear fell sites, potential breeding sites or dens (e.g. rock piles) are protected from damage, and all patches of windblown trees are retained as potential future breeding sites and resting places.
• In addition to these measures, FLS is also supporting research on wildcats within Clashindarroch, and more widely in the Scottish Wildcat Action Strathbogie Priority Area, by the University of Oxford Wildlife Conservation Research Unit. This involves fitting GPS tags to wildcats and is resulting in unprecedented knowledge on their use of forest habitats.
• It should be noted that no confirmed wildcats with high genetic purity have been identified in Clashindarroch to date. As a consequence, all the above measures represent a comprehensive, precautionary approach.