Chamber and committees

Yes. Scottish Government officials have been in touch with counterparts in the UK Department for Business Innovation and Skills to establish more clearly the scope of the review and how best to participate as it proceeds over the next few months.

We are clear that better thermal standards across the built environment will make a very significant contribution to our carbon reduction targets. We have just published a Consultation on the Energy Efficiency Action Plan for Scotland. This highlights action that is already being taken, and ideas on further ways to cut emissions and boost the economy, including what skills might be needed in the construction industry to improve the energy performance of the built environment. In addition, the Scottish Construction Centre, which is supported by Scottish Enterprise, works with construction companies to disseminate innovative best practice across the sector, including best practice in the area of carbon reduction.

The Scottish Government has made clear our policy of no new nuclear power stations in Scotland. It is not our policy to intervene in planning matters in England and Wales, but if there is to be a public inquiry its remit should exclude any possibility of siting new nuclear stations in Scotland.

The Energy Saving Trust, as managing agent, will be responsible for marketing the scheme to every household in Home Insulation Scheme (HIS) areas. This will include direct mailings to every household, as well as area-focussed marketing campaigns to raise awareness of the scheme and its benefits. HIS assessors will then visit every household, with the exception of those who have already responded to the direct mailing or the marketing campaign, making three attempts to contact each household. Through a combination of these measures, every household will be offered free energy audits and energy advice, and also be offered access to energy efficiency measures and more specialised advice as appropriate to their needs and circumstances.

As long as the justification process is solely related to the siting of new nuclear power stations south of the border, that is a matter for the UK Government.

Our position on new nuclear power in Scotland remains clear. We have not made representations to the UK Government in relation to calls for a public inquiry into the justification process.

Marketing of the Home Insulation Scheme (HIS) is expected to begin in late September, with doorstep assessment visits starting in early November and the first measures being installed in early December. It is not possible at this stage to accurately estimate the number of households which will sign up to receive insulation measures by the end of 2009. Our planning and funding framework is based on financial years, i.e. 2009-10 for the first phase. When HIS is underway and data is collected for monitoring and evaluation purposes it will be possible to provide more informed estimates.

This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0924-01.htm

All households within Home Insulation Scheme areas are eligible to receive insulation measures either free, or at a reduced cost compared to the normal market cost of installation, providing that their house is suitable for the relevant measure. While able-to-pay households will receive insulation at reduced cost, they will be required to make a financial contribution to the costs of installation, if they wish to receive the measures. The Energy Saving Trust, as managing agent, is currently carrying out a procurement exercise to appoint the supplier offering the best deal for HIS customers in a given area. The level of householder contribution will be determined by the outcome of a procurement exercise which is not yet complete.

Eligibility for free insulation measures will be similar to that applied by the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target scheme, which focuses on benefit entitlement, but also includes the over-70s as a priority group.

Contributions to the Home Insulation Scheme, which will be in addition to the £15 million allocated by the Scottish Government, will be delivered mainly from Carbon Emissions Reduction Target activity and owner contributions. The amount of investment contributed from these sources will depend on factors such as the uptake of measures under the first phase of the scheme, which will cover around 100,000 homes.

Complementary investment will also be provided from local councils and other local partners in the selected areas. Complementary investment from some of the local councils selected for the first phase of the Home Insulation Scheme is subject to final confirmation and approval. However, at this stage, our provisional estimate is that in the region of £750,000 of complementary investment will be contributed from local agencies.