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Yes, I do, and it is nowhere near our intention simply to give the duty to councils and leave them to get on with things. We intend to continue the very strong collaborative work between central and local government that has got us to this stage, which shows that, in many parts of the country, there is great enthusiasm for taking forward this agenda.

Fiona Hyslop is quite right to say that needs with regard to capacity and skills might change over time, and what councils will need to go through the first iteration and get their first strategies and delivery plans published might well be different from what they will need two, three, five or seven years down the line, as they continue to deliver the strategies and see a range of different solutions in place.

For example, there will be differences not only in building stock, geography, climate and so on, but in the mix of energy sources that local authorities can draw on. Some authorities will already have their own local energy companies delivering heat networks and decarbonisation, while others might not be at that stage yet but might see the opportunity to develop those. The capacity that has been developed through that experience will also vary from council to council. That is why we need to work with councils on their own terms and in a way that is empowering to them. We aim to achieve the Scotland-wide net zero and fuel poverty targets, while empowering each local authority to decide the best way to do that in its local circumstances.

A huge amount of work is happening in this space, not only in the next year or two, when local authorities have to deliver their first LHEES, but in the longer term. This is a multidecade programme of work.

The green heat finance task force is already up and running, and its membership has been published. If the committee has not been sent that, we can point you to the part of the Scottish Government website that details that work. The task force will be looking at the wide range of finance solutions that will be necessary in the long term to deliver that multidecade programme of work and the large-scale investment—both private and public—that will be required.

It is tempting to think that we will not have gone far or fast enough until we have completed every element of that multidecade programme of work. I am the first to say that Scotland and other countries are not yet where we should be. Many people would say that a lot of the transition should have taken place a long time ago. Now that we are under way, it is clear that local authorities, using the resource that we are discussing with COSLA, will have the capacity to deliver their first LHEES by the end of next year. It would be wrong to assume that they cannot undertake that work until the finance task force has answered every question about the longer-term funding of the whole heat transition.

In many ways, the first iteration of the strategies will be about identifying issues that local authorities are already looking at, such as the nature of their building stock and the likelihood of heat networks in different parts of the country. The maps that have been developed by the Scottish Government to inform the first national assessment of heat networks are already available and more information is coming down the pipeline.

A huge amount of work is already under way, and I have no doubt that local authorities will be able to complete their first LHEES by the end of next year. The green heat finance task force will continue to indicate the longer-term solutions that are necessary for the much more substantial task that lies ahead in the years and decades to come.

I ask Paul Gilbert to jump in and say a little more about local authorities’ experience of the pilot phase and the types of skill sets that they have built up during it.

The green heat finance task force is already up and running and meeting. It might be more appropriate if I were to provide a written update to the committee in the near future about the work that the task force is already doing. That is rather separate from the question of resourcing local authorities to undertake the work that they will be given a duty to undertake by the order, if it is approved.

The scale of investment that is needed for the development of the strategies in the first instance over the next year and a half or so is of a significantly lower order than the scale of investment that is needed for the transformation of our building stock over the coming years and decades. It would be helpful to separate out those two issues, and I will provide the committee with a written update on the work of the task force at some point in the near future.

Given that that is separate from the LHEES order that we are debating, it might be appropriate for either me or the cabinet secretary to write to the committee if there has not been a recent update on that.

We are already working with agencies and organisations to deliver not just the heat in buildings agenda but support on fuel poverty and energy efficiency. That work is already resourced, and there have been increases in resources since the beginning of the current cost of living crisis. We have been keen to ensure that we maximise the uptake and availability of the grant, loan and other advice services that are available as we continue to develop and embed that throughout Scotland. The new agency will take on a key role in not only bringing that together but improving how it is delivered throughout Scotland.

That will be one area of work of the new national public energy agency, which we will launch later this year.

When we published the heat networks delivery plan, I visited Queens Quay in West Dunbartonshire. That is one example of where a local authority is already giving leadership. It is showing that the development of capacity in heat decarbonisation and heat networks can be of benefit to the local economy and to democratisation in our energy system, and it is working in a way that will also create opportunities for the private sector to connect to that network and gain co-benefits.

There will be other local authorities that have not yet gone down that road, but will see the opportunity to do so in future. They will need support to share skills and gain the capacity that is required to make that happen. The experience to date, as well as the potential support that would come from not only Scottish Government resourcing but from working with the new agency, show the huge potential for that to happen.

The question of resourcing needs to respect the discussion that continues to take place between the Scottish Government and COSLA. After the upcoming elections, we will see new leadership in some local authorities and, I hope, many local champions of this work across the political spectrum and across all local authorities.

The Scottish Government will work actively and constructively with individual local authorities and COSLA to address the capacity issues. Once again, however, I have to say that the discussions on specific resourcing need to be allowed to continue, and we will need to take account of Parliament’s decision on passing the order before we are able to specify exactly what the funding is going to be.

In the first instance, the first strategies will have to be completed by the end of 2023, and they will be updated on a five-yearly basis from that point.

The nature of the challenge will be different in different parts of the country, which is why locally led planning is so important. It would be appropriate for each local authority to identify in its first strategy the issues and challenges that need to be addressed. It is fair to say that, at this point, no one is able to confidently predict with precision exactly how the strategies will be implemented over the coming decades. That is why we will go through the process of giving local authorities not only the duty but the resources to identify the circumstances that are right in their locations, to develop place-based approaches and to update them on a five-year cycle.

Good morning, colleagues. I am grateful for the opportunity to give evidence on the draft Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (Scotland) Order 2022.

As we are all aware, achieving our statutory targets for net zero and fuel poverty will mean transforming Scotland’s building stock. As set out in our heat in buildings strategy, we have to ensure that, by 2045, our homes and buildings no longer contribute to climate change, as part of the wider just transition to net zero. More specifically, by 2033, all homes should have achieved a good level of energy efficiency—equivalent to energy performance certificate band C—and, by 2030, emissions from heating our homes and buildings must be 68 per cent lower than 2020 levels. That will require very significant deployment of zero-emissions heating.

Delivering that transformation will require concerted effort across national and local government as well as the wider public and private sectors. Locally led planning will be key to ensuring that the decarbonisation of heat in buildings is delivered in a way that is relevant to local contexts and tailored to the specific needs of communities. Such planning is needed to translate national and local net zero priorities into place-based strategies for heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency improvement.

Local heat and energy efficiency strategies are the principal mechanism for that locally led planning. They will support local planning, co-ordination and delivery of the heat transition across communities in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has been working closely with local authorities to test approaches for local heat and energy efficiency strategies. I express my gratitude to all those who took part in the pilot programme, which involved all 32 Scottish local authorities and was a great example of partnership working between national and local government.

LHEES will be structured in two parts. Local strategies will provide a long-term strategic framework for the improvement of the energy efficiency of homes and buildings in the local authority’s area and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the heating of such buildings. Those strategies will be accompanied by delivery plans, which will set out how a local authority proposes to support the implementation of its strategy.

The Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (Scotland) Order that we are debating today will place a duty on local authorities to produce strategies and delivery plans by the end of 2023 and then to update them every five years. If the committee and the Parliament approve the order and it is brought into force, it will create a clear statutory basis that will ensure consistency and comprehensive coverage across Scotland against a common minimum standard and raise the profile of local strategies with industry and investors.

The order was developed in co-operation with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. I particularly thank COSLA’s environment and economy spokesperson, Councillor Steven Heddle, and COSLA leaders for their support and for the partnership approach that has been taken in developing local heat and energy efficiency strategies.

Local authorities will need to be suitably resourced to undertake the new duty. Scottish Government officials are working with COSLA to deliver appropriate funding to enable local authorities to access the necessary staff capacity and technical skills to produce their local heat and energy efficiency strategies.

It is clear that local government has an absolutely critical role to play in the transition of Scotland’s building stock to deliver net zero and that many local authorities are already driving forward action in that area. Approving the order will ensure that there is consistent, comprehensive coverage of local heat and energy efficiency strategies across Scotland and will enable local planning, co-ordination and delivery of the decarbonisation of Scotland’s homes and buildings.

I look forward to the committee’s discussion and to answering questions.

I guess that the ideal is that we increase the number of situations in which an alternative route or resolution is found. One would hope that if a landlord made such an approach and the tenant engaged constructively, the case would never have to reach the tribunal stage, because a way of resolving the situation and sustaining the tenancy would be found. That is what we are looking to achieve. It seems to be fairly clear that if a landlord has taken the steps and is still, because the tenant has refused to do so, unable to engage properly with their tenant, the tribunal will be able to take that into account.