Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-24077

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many (a) insulation engineers, (b) thermal insulation engineers, (c) glaziers, (d) heating and ventilation engineers, (e) plumbing and heating engineers, (f) electricians and (g) Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) assessors are currently working in Scotland, broken down by local authority area.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The Office for National Statistics, Broad Industry Group Region by broad industry group (Standard Industrial Classification) – Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES): Table 4 - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) , provides annual data for employee and employment estimates working in construction areas in Scotland including, but not limited to; plumbing, installation of heating and air-conditioning systems, electrical work and insulation work (water, heat, sound). The most recent data was published on 25 October 2023.

Question reference: S6W-24064

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22664 by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023, what its position is on how the proposal that "Owner occupied homes that have ended their use of polluting heating by 2033 will not be required to meet the minimum energy efficiency standard", as set out in its consultation on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill, promotes a "fabric first approach".

Owner occupied homes which no longer use polluting heating by 2033 will have already, as a result of this change, removed all direct emissions associated with the heating of those homes.

This means that there would be no need for a legal requirement to meet an energy efficiency standard; however, there will still be strong incentives for homeowners to invest in energy efficiency and improvements to the fabric of those homes in order to reduce their energy bills.

Question reference: S6W-24062

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 12 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when the Scottish House Condition Survey 2022 will be published.

Question reference: S6W-24063

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 12 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Scottish House Condition Survey not taking account of low carbon heating technologies in domestic buildings, such as heat pumps and solar, what consideration it has given to including such types of heating systems in the Scottish House Condition Survey in the future.

The Scottish House Conditions survey already accounts for and records the presence of low carbon heating technologies including heat pumps and solar panels.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) consists of an interview with householders and a physical inspection of the dwelling they occupy, which provides a picture of Scotland's occupied housing stock. It covers all types of households and dwellings across the country - whether owned or rented, flats or houses. The physical data about the dwelling is recorded by surveyors trained to collect detailed information on housing characteristics.

The presence of a heat pump is collected in the survey through question M2 in the SHCS physical survey form , which records the main form of heating in the dwelling. This question will also record the presence of other low carbon heating technologies including other electric heating sources, and community heating. The type of heat pump (if present) is then recorded in question M11.

The SHCS also collects data on if a dwelling is suitable for solar panels or solar photovoltaics (PV), and if they have been installed through question D7 of the survey SHCS physical survey form , with questions D8 and D9 recording the percentage of the roof which is covered by solar PV and/ or solar panels respectively.

The SHCS key findings report has not previously included figures on the number of dwellings with heat pumps or solar panels / PV, due to their limited prevalence in the dwelling stock, but this can be added to future reports. Both are accounted for in our measurements of EPC’s, modelled energy use, energy costs, and fuel poverty calculations. Additionally, this data is included in the SHCS dataset on the UK Data Archive . We have included the estimated number of dwellings and percentage of all dwellings with a heat pump in table 1, and solar panels, solar PV, or both installed in table 2.

As the 2020 SHCS was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic and results from the 2021 External+ SHCS were published as experimental statistics the 2019 SHCS provides the most recent official statistics on heating systems and solar panels / PV. Results from the 2022 SHCS have been pre-announced for publication in February 2024.

Table 1: Estimated number of dwellings and percentage of all dwellings with a heat pump (2019).

Total Dwellings with a heat pump	% of all dwellings
21,000	0.8%

Table 2: Estimate number of and percentage of all dwellings with solar panels, solar PV, or both installed (2019).

Total Dwellings with solar panels and/ or PV	% of all dwellings
74,000	3.0%

Notes

1. Source Scottish House Condition Survey 2019

2. The SHCS is a sample survey and therefore all figures are estimates which lie at the midpoint of a confidence interval which depends primarily on sample size.

Question reference: S6W-24059

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to present Scotland as an attractive location to open businesses within the renewable tourism sector.

Question reference: S6O-02973

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how its fiscal policies support the development and growth of the rural economy.

Question reference: S6W-24080

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken regarding any impact of an aging ferry fleet on the levels of freight weight capacity on each route.

Question reference: S6W-23674

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 21 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on the actions outlined in the Heat in Buildings Supply Chains Delivery Plan to date.

We continue to make progress against the actions outlined within the Heat in Buildings Supply Chains Delivery Plan. In November 2022 we launched the Green Heat Innovation Support Programme and the Green Heat Installer Engagement Programme . More recently we fulfilled our commitment to launch a new Mobile Heat Pump Training centre .

Proposals have progressed for a Green Heat Manufacturing Hub following the call issued by Scottish Enterprise in December 2022. A full and final proposal is now in development and is expected in early 2024.

In addition, we continue to explore options for a supplier-led funding scheme, which has the potential to support supply chain growth. We are currently engaging with the clean heat sector to understand appetite for such a scheme and the associated potential barriers and opportunities.

Question reference: S6W-23668

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 21 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22651 by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023, whether it can provide a breakdown of the information in the table by local authority area.

The following table sets out the total number of rural uplift applications approved, and the total number paid through the HES Grant and Loan Scheme between September 2022 and October 2023, broken down by local authority area.

Applicants have 9 months to complete works and claim their funding from the date that their funding application is approved. This means that payments to applicants are often made in the months following their application approval, which is why the numbers paid will not be equal to the numbers approved.

Local Authority	Rural Uplift Approved	Rural Uplift Paid
Aberdeen City	6	4
Aberdeenshire	239	143
Angus	53	36
Argyll and Bute	207	146
City of Edinburgh	11	9
Clackmannanshire	4	2
Dumfries and Galloway	127	75
Dundee City	1	1
East Ayrshire	30	18
East Dunbartonshire	2	1
East Lothian	30	18
East Renfrewshire	4	4
Falkirk	14	12
Fife	47	27
Glasgow City	0	0
Highland	291	154
Inverclyde	2	1
Midlothian	16	10
Moray	93	55
Na h-Eileanan Siar	41	18
North Ayrshire	24	10
North Lanarkshire	7	6
Orkney Islands	62	20
Perth and Kinross	144	98
Renfrewshire	4	4
Scottish Borders	118	75
Shetland Islands	47	27
South Ayrshire	23	15
South Lanarkshire	68	44
Stirling	47	26
West Dunbartonshire	5	3
West Lothian	15	10

Question reference: S6W-23677

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 21 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22664 by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023, whether applicants to the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme must meet a minimum (a) repair and (b) insulation standard, where technically feasible, prior to becoming eligible for funding for renewable heating systems.

Renewables systems must be recommended on an Energy Performance Certificate or a report issued by a Home Energy Scotland advisor. When a renewables report is carried out for an applicant, the assessor will bring to the attention of the owner any issues in the property that may affect the energy efficiency improvements. It is the responsibility of the owner of the property to address these issues.

Where loft/roof and wall insulation are recommended on the Energy Performance Certificate of the property, these must be either be installed prior to the renewables system applied for or be installed as part of the funding application.

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