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The draft regulations require that new tenancies in the private rented sector (PRS) must meet an EPC rating of E from 1 October 2020.

The Scottish Government expects local councils to take a targeted approach to enforcement. This means initially gathering evidence about non-compliance; identifying and eliminating barriers to improvement by landlords; and considering how these regulations can be used to strengthen existing programmes.

The Scottish Government will develop a toolkit to support local authorities’ gathering of information and a guidance document to provide scenarios and practical assistance to local authority staff involved in applying the regulations within their area.

This learning will then be used to shape policy development in partnership with local authorities strengthening enforcement over time.

The Scottish Government currently funds a number of schemes to support the uptake of renewable and low carbon heat, including support for heat networks and for individual households and businesses to install low carbon heating. Where we currently provide funding for fossil fuel heating systems we have already increased support for renewable and low carbon heating, for example via Warmer Homes Scotland.

We recognise the need to phase out support for fossil fuel heating, which we will do between now and 2024, where it is appropriate and does not adversely affect achieving our statutory fuel poverty targets. We are also committed to working with industry to introduce a requirement for new homes to have low carbon heating from 2024, i.e. for all new build properties to no longer use fossil fuel boilers from this date.

The Draft 2020-21 Budget allocates £120 million for a Heat Transition Deal to accelerate the deployment of low carbon heating sources. Later this year, we will publish a Heat Decarbonisation Policy Statement which will include a programme of actions to scale up deployment of low carbon heating and taking into account the need to scale up capacity within the supply chain.

As stated in the answer to S5W-27472 on 27 February 2020, if, in advance of the backstop date, the tenant has not changed, and has legitimate reasons to refuse access for installing measures, the regulations allow the landlord to seek an exemption based on this precise situation.

There are further existing safeguards for tenants from eviction. A landlord must provide the correct notice and obtain an eviction order from the First-tier Tribunal (Housing and Property Chamber) before a property can be recovered. Depending on the tenancy agreement, there could be penalties for misleading a tenant into leaving.

Of course, should the landlord wish to subsequently let the property again, they will face delay and additional expense to find a new tenant. They will of course need to meet the energy efficiency regulations .

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

The Scottish Government strongly supports the circular economy and while Scottish Ministers do not directly have responsibility for what are commercial decisions by operators, or the industry standards for blades manufactured outside of Scotland, but we are encouraging the industry to consider opportunities to improve the sustainability of components utilised within projects located in Scotland.

As regards infrastructure to undertake recycling of wind energy components we are aware of 'Renewable Parts', a recycling and repair centre in Lochgilphead which opened in 2018. The centre aims to significantly reduce the level of waste from decommissioning wind turbines by refurbishing parts for resale. Onshore wind is the lowest cost form of electricity generation at scale and the Scottish Government strongly encourage the reuse, recycling and recovery of resources.

The draft regulations require that new tenancies in the private rented sector (PRS) must meet an EPC rating of E from 1 October 2020.

Citizens’ Advice Scotland (CAS) was part of the working group to develop the proposals, alongside the Existing Homes Alliance, representing tenants’ interests. We have also engaged separately with Shelter Scotland to develop the proposals and raise awareness.

We will continue to engage with CAS and Shelter Scotland, so that new and existing tenants coming to their bureaux or offices, can get relevant advice and support, as well as ensuring that tenants are aware of the regulations coming into effect.

We have also attended, and will continue to attend, area based forum meetings organised by local authorities, which enables direct engagement with locally based housing advice and advocacy groups.

Scottish Government continues to fund free and impartial advice through Home Energy Scotland (HES), to anyone, including private tenants. Our Warmer Homes Scotland Scheme already helps those on low incomes. This is an ideal opportunity to raise their awareness of the forthcoming regulations, as we install energy efficiency measures to make tenants’ homes warmer. For more information and qualifying criteria, contact Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282 or https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland/grants-loans/heeps/heeps-warmer-homes-scotland-scheme .

The Scottish Government regularly met with local authorities, individually or as part of a group before and during the 2019 consultation and continues to have discussions with local authorities.

The Scottish Government set up a short life working group on enforcement, made up of representatives of local authorities, that met several times to discuss and inform proposals for enforcement before and after the 2019 consultation.

The Scottish Government continues to take part in a number of local authority forums to discuss the role of local authorities in enforcement.

Senior officers from the Scottish Government met with COSLA on a number of occasions to discuss the role of local authorities in enforcing the regulations for energy efficiency in the PRS.

The Scottish Government will publish draft guidance in April and will use this to continue engagement with local authorities and key stakeholders.

Home Energy Scotland (HES) are currently running a campaign to raise awareness of the available financial assistance, through a combination of social media, radio adverts and direct mail to highlight the support that is available to improve the energy efficiency of people’s homes.

HES loans, launched in May 2017, offer owner occupiers and some private sector landlords interest free loans for energy efficient measures. Over the past three financial years, a total of over £70 million has been made available under Scottish Government Energy Efficiency loan schemes. We are currently offering cashback on some energy efficiency and renewable energy measures to help people meet part of the costs of improving energy efficiency of their homes.

We have also recently amended the qualifying rdSAP (Reduced data Standard Assessment Procedure) rating for Warmer Homes Scotland, the Scottish Government’s national fuel poverty scheme, from 64 to 67 enabling more households who are struggling to pay their energy bills to qualify for support.

We also currently offer cashback on some energy efficiency and renewable energy measures to help people meet part of the costs of improving energy efficiency of their homes.

As a result of the significant investment made in Scotland’s Railway infrastructure, stations and services, we have seen patronage grow by 35% in the last ten years.

Our National Transport Strategy, which was published on 5 February, sets out the future direction for transport and reflects the declaration of the global climate emergency with climate change action identified as a priority.

https://www.transport.gov.scot/our-approach/national-transport-strategy/

We are fully committed to increasing public and sustainable transport options across the country. The second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2), due to report Spring 2021, is underway and is currently identifying the transport interventions required to provide Scotland with a network fit for the 21st Century, which will inform Scottish Ministers’ investment decisions for the next 20 years. Any decisions on future funding of transport infrastructure in Scotland will be informed by the outputs of STPR2 and through the normal cycle of government spending reviews.

In terms of rail capacity assessment I would refer the member to Network Rail’s Scotland Route Study publication:-

https://cdn.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Scotland-Route-Study.pdf

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that our rail services deliver the best possible connectivity for the people of Scotland. Over the last ten years we have significantly improved both the frequency of weekday and Sunday services. In addition, we have introduced Sunday services on routes which were not served before. We remain committed to further such improvements, subject to affordability and rail industry deliverability constraints.

Over the last three years, Transport Scotland and Department for Transport officials have been working in partnership with HS2 Ltd and Network Rail to deliver a joint UK and Scottish Government commitment to identify options that could improve capacity and reduce journey time on the rail routes between Scotland and England.

Officials last met their UK Government counterparts on 18 December 2019 as part of a regular set of meetings at which they discussed infrastructure options for high speed rail to improve speed, capacity, connectivity and resilience on rail routes between England and Scotland. The next scheduled meeting is due to be held on 5 March 2020.