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According to the Microgeneration Certification Scheme’s publicly-accessible MCS Data Dashboard, there were 5,326 MCS certified small-scale low-carbon heating system installations in 2022.

The MCS figures come with the following caveats:

• For the purposes of answering this question, “low-carbon heating systems” comprise (i) Air Source Heat Pumps, (ii) Biomass, (iii) Ground/Water Source Heat Pumps, (iv) Micro CHP, (v) Other Heat Pump Types, and (vi) Solar Thermal.
• MCS certification is not a mandatory requirement, so MCS data does not capture all small-scale renewable energy installations in Scotland. However, as MCS is often a route to government incentives, it is likely to represent a significant proportion of deployment.
• Most installations registered with MCS are in the retrofit market. However, MCS may capture some new-build installations if contractors have chosen to register their installations with MCS.

Separate to establishing the legislative framework for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 also sets statutory requirements to produce a Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme (SCCAP) every five years. These programmes are required to address current and projected risks from climate change, as identified in the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment. The current SCCAP covers the period 2019 – 2024 and sets out over 170 policies and proposals to build climate resilience in Scotland. We intend to lay the next annual progress report on SCCAP implementation in the Scottish Parliament in May 2023. The next five-year adaptation programme is already in development, with public consultation anticipated for the start of 2024.

As a government, we are convinced that hydrogen, alongside renewable electricity, will play an extremely important part in our energy system going forward. We are scaling up renewable energy and taking action to transform and expand Scotland’s energy generation sector. The draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan which is open for consultation until 9 May, sets out actions to ensure that Scotland is home to a multi-skilled energy workforce, boosting our domestic supply chain and manufacturing capabilities.

Through the National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET), the Scottish Government is driving forward the transformation of Scotland’s Economy by committing to six programmes of action that will focus on stimulating entrepreneurship; opening new markets; increasing productivity; developing the skills we need for the decade ahead; ensuring fairer and more equal economic opportunities; and creating a new culture of delivery. We have established a clear set of metrics, which we will use to assess our performance against the long-term objectives set in NSET, and have been chosen to represent the key areas where NSET seeks to shift the dial.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17264 on 4 May 2023. 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 .

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Scottish House Condition Survey, 2019 is the latest year for which we have National Statistics for this. From Table 5 of the latest Scottish House Condition Survey (published 1 December 2020), there were 312,000 domestic properties using low or zero greenhouse gas emissions heating systems.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17263 on 4 May 2023. 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 .

As set out in our Heat in Buildings Strategy (published in October 2021), the vast majority of the 170,000 off-gas homes and at least 1 million homes currently using mains gas, must convert to zero emissions heating by 2030 in order to meet our interim climate targets. We will therefore consult during 2023 on a Heat in Buildings Bill to phase out fossil fuel boilers in Scotland’s homes and buildings and move to clean heating systems.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) is the main source for the number of domestic properties with low or zero emissions heating systems. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, fieldwork for the 2020 SHCS was suspended and the methodology for the 2021 SHCS was also impacted. Future SHCS publications will provide more information to measure progress towards the heat transition.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering a Net Zero, Wellbeing economy and a highly skilled workforce is critical to this ambition. Our National Strategy for Economic Transformation is clear that we must adapt our education and skills system to become more responsive and agile so that it can deliver on our key priorities.

Published in 2020, the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP) provides a framework for green skills planning and investment across priority sectors directly affected in the transition to net zero: Energy, Construction, Transport, Manufacturing and Agriculture and land-use.

Since 2019, Transport Scotland has been commissioning reports in each of the highest emitting transport sectors to identify the skills gaps and skills shortages. A number of these reports have already been published, and others are due to be published in Spring 2023. The findings will become the foundation for skills activity, delivered by partners across Scotland to support the decarbonisation of the transport sector.

Transport Scotland works closely with colleges across Scotland and the Energy Skills Partnership. Targeted investment has supported training equipment for battery and hydrogen vehicles and has been utilised by colleges across Scotland, including in more rural and remote communities. This support has led to over 120 college lecturers being up-skilled to deliver training, and over 350 technicians receiving training to date, with that number growing annually with Scottish colleges delivering courses to new students. This work will support the development of a Just Transition Plan for the Transport Sector.

In 2023-24 local authorities will receive funding through the local government finance settlement of nearly £13.5 billion. Local authorities also have a range of revenue raising powers that are not available to other public services.

The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of funding is provided by means of the block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, on the basis of local needs and priorities, including with regards to climate adaptation, to having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

While local authorities are responsible for setting their own budgets, the total funding provided by the Scottish Government will increase by over £793 million in 2023-24 compared with the 2022-23 budget. Decisions on budget allocations for future years are subject to negotiation with COSLA and the results will be confirmed as part of future Scottish Budgets.

By way of example £42 million is provided to local authorities annually for flood risk management, with an additional £150 million announced for investment over this Parliament. Additionally, £11.7 million for coastal change adaptation is available to support coastal local authorities over the course of this Parliament.

As set out in our Heat in Buildings Strategy (published in October 2021), the equivalent of 50,000 non-domestic buildings must convert to zero emissions heating by 2030 in order to meet our interim climate targets. We will therefore consult during 2023 on a Heat in Buildings Bill to phase out fossil fuel boilers in Scotland’s homes and buildings and move to clean heating systems.

Since the size and energy consumption of our non-domestic buildings varies considerably, we said in our 2022 Climate Change Plan Monitoring Report that we would adopt a more appropriate indicator based on fossil fuel heat demand. Converting the equivalent of 50,000 non-domestic buildings (existing in 2020) to zero emissions heat by 2030 would bring the commercial sector fossil fuel heat consumption to 5,000 GWh or less.

The latest data for fossil fuel heat consumption from the commercial sector was 11,170 GWh in 2020. We will develop our approach for this indicator as part of our Heat in Buildings Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, due later this year, and use that in future monitoring.