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The Scottish Government continuously reviews energy consenting frameworks, and looks for opportunities for further efficiencies and improvements while ensuring protection of our natural resources. In line with an existing Programme for Government commitment, Marine Scotland Directorate are putting in place the resources, processes and structures to respond to the challenge of the additional volume of applications which will flow from ScotWind.

In CivTech, the Scottish Government is already resourcing an outstanding accelerator/incubator programme that is delivering in the low-carbon and net zero areas.

The Scottish Government’s CivTech programme is the world’s first successful public sector focused accelerator programme, with a mission to drive daring and innovation in the public sector by collaboratively solving challenges to make people’s lives better – and in doing so create generations of sustainable, high growth potential businesses. Its collaborative approach to incubation combines public sector ‘domain expertise’ with private sector innovation and citizen engagement to produce innovative solutions. More than 90% of the private sector applicants to the CivTech Accelerators are SMEs, many early stage. Combining open challenges and ‘Silicon Valley best practice’ repurposed for public benefit, it is very highly regarded as an accelerator/incubator [it has been described as the ‘gold standard’ in innovation drivers] and over the past six years it has delivered more than 60 Challenges across the National Performance Framework and Scottish Government priorities.

One of these priorities is the climate emergency, and working closely with organisations including NatureScot, SEPA and Forestry and Land Scotland, CivTech has delivered climate related projects since its inception. These include award-winning products and technologies to help us meet tree planting targets, and mitigate the effects of climate change through community based flood warning systems. This year’s CivTech 6 programme includes three Challenges in the Net Zero and Low Carbon areas, focused on the decarbonisation of the manufacturing supply chain, more effective peatland restoration, and help for land managers making informed land-use decisions to increase carbon capture and storage.

One of the great advantages of the CivTech model is that it delivers Challenges across a wide range of disciplines: the ‘cross collateralisation’ of knowledge, knowhow, skills and experience this produces is an acknowledged, core driver of innovation, and avoids the ‘siloed’ approach of many single-focus incubators/accelerators. CivTech is clearly delivering very positive results and the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government of September 2021 included a significant commitment to scale CivTech and investment in its Challenges. With CivTech’s focus on government priorities, this will offer a significant increases in opportunities and funding for private sector innovators to develop technologies which tackle the climate crisis.

Scotland’s strength in public accelerator climate technologies was recognised during CoP 26 when the CivTech Alliance, an international collaboration of public sector accelerator programmes, demonstrated climate technologies from across the world. This included companies from Scotland, and offered a showcase opportunity for companies that came through the CivTech programme.

The Scottish Government is engaging closely with COSLA and Heads of Planning Scotland to understand the pressures faced by the planning service and to promote a highly performing system which can deliver on the ambitions for planning set out in the emerging NPF4.

Consideration of capacity and skills in planning is informed by recent research commissioned by Skills Development Scotland, undertaken by EKOS and published by Partners in Planning, available at https://www.partnersinplanning.scot/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/23623/Skills-in-Planning-Research-Final-February-2021.pdf The research report provides an independent perspective on the challenges faced and a series of proposed actions. Scottish Government is working with the other partner members of Partners in Planning to take forward the proposed actions to help ensure the future pipeline of planners needed to deliver on our ambitions. This includes supporting a short project recently commissioned by Heads of Planning Scotland and the RTPI to explore options and set out proposals to help increase the numbers of people entering the planning profession.

Reviewing the planning performance and fee regime is a key part of our planning reform programme. We are currently progressing proposals to increase planning fees, following a public consultation carried out in 2019-2020. Although implementation of these proposals was postponed during the pandemic, this work has now recommenced and we will shortly lay regulations in the Scottish Parliament bringing the proposed fee increases into effect. The new regulations are expected to come into force in April 2022, subject to parliamentary scrutiny. The proposed measures would increase fees by between 25 and 50% in some cases, moving fees closer to covering authorities’ costs in determining the applications and providing substantial additional income to authorities.

Ministers will also shortly undertake recruitment and appointment of a new national planning improvement coordinator for Scotland. The core purpose of the coordinator’s role will be to support improvement within the Scottish planning system, by providing constructive input which promotes an outcomes-based approach.

The Scottish Government has not sent such a letter. The draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) proposes radically improved and significant new policies aimed at addressing the climate emergency, including a proposed new policy which states: ‘When considering all development proposals significant weight should be given to the Global Climate Emergency.’ Once adopted, NPF4 will form a part of the statutory development plan and will be a material planning consideration, requiring the policies and priorities set out in NPF4 to be influential factors in planning decisions.

The draft NPF4 is currently subject to Scottish Parliamentary scrutiny, alongside a public consultation, prior to a finalised version being presented for Scottish Parliament approval. We are working towards laying a final version of NPF4 in the Parliament for approval this summer, following which it will be adopted by the Scottish Ministers.

I also refer the member to the Scottish Government’s earlier answer on the issue of the climate emergency in planning decision making, given in the answer to question S6W-02155 on 6 September 2021. 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 .

The Scottish Government currently provides a substantial, free advice and support offering to Scottish SMEs to understand how to become more energy and to take action to implement renewable heating measures, through its Energy Efficiency Business Support Service. Scottish SMEs benefit from a variety of support packages including online tools, onsite visits, bespoke energy audits, webinars, information events and advice on funding.

The Energy Efficiency Business Support (EEBS) service is responsible for signposting businesses to the SME loan and cashback scheme, administered by Energy Saving Trust on behalf of the Scottish Government, and for producing the bespoke assessment reports that are a prerequisite for an application to these schemes. The SME Loan and Cashback scheme provides interest free loans from £1,000 up to £100,000 to small and medium sized Scotland based businesses. Furthermore, SMEs can apply for a 75% cashback grant of up to £10,000 towards the costs of a renewables heating system and a further 30% cashback grant up to £10,000 for energy efficiency measures.

The Scottish Government's Heat in Buildings Strategy has committed to phasing out the need to install new or replacement fossil fuel boilers, in off-gas grid homes from 2025 and in on-gas grid homes 2030, with consideration of additional trigger points and subject to technological developments and decisions by the UK Government in reserved areas.

The Scottish Government will consult further on these proposals during 2022.

Details of the grant allocations and outturns for each council as part of our Area Based Schemes programme since 2013 are published on the Scottish Government website:

Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland: area-based schemes - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Information about the previous Home Insulation Scheme (HIS) and the Universal Home Insulation Scheme (UHIS) from 2008 to 2013 is available from the Energy Saving Trust website.

Home+Energy+Programmes+Summary+Report+20092013.pdf (energysavingtrust.org.uk)

The Heat in Buildings Strategy sets out the Scottish Government’s proposed approach to introducing energy performance standards for all existing buildings. It confirms our intention to introduce regulations from 2025 for private housing to reach a minimum energy performance standard equivalent to EPC C at respective trigger points, where technically feasible and cost-effective to do so - with backstops of 2028 (for the private rented sector) and by 2033 (for owner occupiers).

For mixed-tenure and mixed-use buildings, including tenements, we intend to introduce regulations from 2025 onwards, with an expectation that all of these buildings should meet the standard of a good level of energy efficiency, equivalent to EPC C rating by 2040-45.

For non-domestic buildings, we intend to consult on the regulatory approach in 2022 and introduce regulations by 2025 to require owners to reduce demand for heat through energy efficiency improvements where feasible.

To support the introduction of these proposed regulations, we have set out proposals to reform the metrics underpinning Energy Performance Certificates. As set out in the Heat in Buildings Strategy, we plan to consult on our proposals for regulations during 2022.

The Scottish Government considers a range of data to support policy development. Current data on how Scotland compares to the rest of the UK is considered in the weekly state of the epidemic paper, available on the Scottish Government website. This report ( Coronavirus (COVID-19): state of the epidemic - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ) brings together the different sources of evidence and data about the COVID epidemic to summarise the current situation, and incorporates data from the UK COVID Dashboard on cases, hospital occupancy and deaths across the four nations. The Scottish Government also refers to the latest data for the four nations from the ONS Covid-19 Infection Survey, which includes estimates of positivity, estimates of the number of people testing positive for antibodies to COVID and long COVID, and has done since the first results were published for Scotland in October 2020.

The evidence and data which informs the Scottish Government is drawn from academic institutions based across the UK which inform SAGE (including via its sub-groups), the UK Health Security Agency and scientific literature from across the world. SAGE includes experts from within government and leading specialists from the fields of healthcare and academia. During the response to the COVID-19 pandemic the SAGE sub groups include:

• New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG)
• Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M)
• Independent Scientific Pandemic insights Group on Behaviours (SPI-B)
• COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK)
• Health Data Research UK (HDR UK)

Councils must give due regard to the statutory guidance published by the Scottish Government in contracting for retrofit and energy efficiency projects. We would expect councils to apply relevant and proportionate selection criteria to establish the suitability of bidders as part of their procurement. These are the minimum standards or requirements that bidders must meet in order to progress. For example by establishing their suitability; financial standing; and their technical and professional ability to undertake the necessary works.

Councils must clearly target fuel poor areas as part of projects funded through our Area Based Schemes (ABS). For example by showing that a project is located in one of the most deprived 25% of areas by SIMD classification. Councils are expected to obtain the necessary information to confirm that relevant households and properties are also eligible for grant-in-aid based upon the guidance provided by the Scottish Government.

When applying for support through the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund projects are required to provide a variety of information including a financial model, a feasibility study, project programme and risk register.