Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Chairs of NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde were invited to chair the Sub-National Planning and Delivery Committees (SPDCs) following an assessment of the practical considerations required to support the running of the proposed SPDCs. NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow Clyde, as the largest Health Boards, were identified as having the capacity and capability to do so. It is, however, the responsibility of the participating Health Boards to determine how they will implement The Co-operation and Planning Directions 2025 which came into force on 13 November 2025. This includes the development of the terms of reference of the SPDCs which will provide further details on membership and chairing arrangements.

The comment about difficulties in establishing communication referred directly to inter-ministerial discussion on the contents of the UK Budget. The meeting between the UK Minister for Energy Consumers and I was reconvened and I was pleased to meet with Minister McCluskey on 3 December to discuss the Warm Home Discount and the UK Government’s proposed Warm Homes Plan.

The provision of Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts is reserved to the UK Government and managed by the Home Office.

The Scottish Government has no control over asylum accommodation and support and we would not expect the Home Office to discuss contractual matters with us.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42484 on 17 December 2025. 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.

A clear framework for the transition to clean heating will give industry and homeowners the certainty they need to invest, boost heat network development and set a long-term direction of travel that is deliverable and affordable. However, repeated delays to the UK Government’s Warm Homes Plan have left key questions unanswered. It is vital that we have a fully informed debate on the Bill when it is brought forward, with proper scrutiny that includes UK plans and affordability impacts.

Meanwhile, we are taking the steps that we can and preparing the ground for a robust, future-proofed approach that serves Scotland’s long-term interests. We have published the draft Bill and explanatory notes, and we are engaging with stakeholders.

The changes to local connection legislation made in 2022 only suspended referrals of homeless households to another local authority in Scotland on the basis of local connection. It made no change to referrals for households with a local connection to a local authority in England or Wales, and the legislation did not change rules for refugee households who have left asylum accommodation.

An increase in demand for homelessness services in Scotland from households with recent positive leave to remain decisions, including households travelling from other parts of the UK, are not the fault of refugees, who continue to be valuable members of our communities. Instead, pressures on housing and services have been driven by successive UK governments’ mismanagement of asylum policy, inadequate planning and a lack of financial assistance, which places people at risk of homelessness and destitution.

The following tables give the number of households who have received support in Shetland through the (a) Warmer Homes Scotland programme, and (b) Heat and Energy Efficient Scotland: Area-Based Schemes in each financial year of its operation.

(a) The number of households helped through Warmer Homes Scotland in Shetland since the beginning of the programme in 2015 is set out below.

The table refers to WHS1 which was the Warmer Homes Scotland contract which accepted applications from 2015 to 2023, and WHS2 which is the current Warmer Homes Scotland contract in place since October 2023.

We remain focused on a heat transition that is feasible, affordable and delivers tangible benefits for people. Levels of fuel poverty in Scotland remain unacceptably high with the reserved issue of energy bills being the great factor. The Scottish Government is committed to tackling this, but the main levers for addressing this, such as energy prices and market reform, sit with UK Government.

We are supporting those in or at risk of being in fuel poverty by continuing to fund energy efficiency measures and clean heating systems. However, the UK Government must provide urgent clarity on reforms to the electricity market, including rebalancing, and a social tariff in the form of an automatic and targeted unit rate discount to support the most vulnerable consumers.

We continue to consider relevant evidence and analysis as part of the development of a Buildings (Heating and Energy Performance) and Heat Networks (Scotland) Bill but will not ask the Scottish Parliament to legislate for vitally important laws which affect our population without a full understanding of awaited UK Government action.

The Scottish Government has not produced estimates for each local authority area from the fuel poverty scenario modelling analysis for October to December 2025, due to small survey sample size and complexities involved.

In order to produce robust estimates for each local authority area, the scenario modelling would need to combine data from 3 years of the SHCS, which is not available due to suspension of SHCS survey due to Covid-19 in 2020 and a different survey design in 2021. The Scottish Government plans to resume the publication of Local Authority estimates from the SHCS in 2026, combining data from the 2022, 2023 and 2024 surveys.

The most up to date national figures can be found in the annual publication found at Scottish House Condition Survey: 2023 Key Findings - gov.scot (34% fuel poverty in 2023) and the most recent price cap scenario modelling found at: Introduction - Fuel Poverty Scenario Modelling based on Ofgem Energy Price Caps - up to January to March 2026 - gov.scot (33% fuel poverty in January to March 2026).

The Scottish Government does not produce estimates of actual average annual costs of heating homes.

The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) publishes Annual domestic energy bills tables at Annual domestic energy bills - GOV.UK which provide annual estimates of gas and electricity bills. These are available at a Scotland and regional level, including for North Scotland.

As part of the Scottish House Condition Survey, the Scottish Government produces estimates of average fuel bills, which includes heating homes to specific heating regimes, as set out in The Fuel Poverty (Enhanced Heating) (Scotland) Regulations 2020, as part of the Scottish definition of fuel poverty, as set out in Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act 2019. However, these estimates do not represent actual costs paid by households. However, beyond exact averages we are very conscious of differentials and heightened costs in rural and island Scotland and factor this in to all our relevant decision making.