Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government will be providing local government in Scotland with record levels of funding over the period covered by the spending review 2008-11. The vast majority of the funding, including the funding for self-directed support, is provided by means of a block grant.

It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it to achieve agreed outcomes, and the Scottish Government will monitor performance to make sure that our shared national priorities are achieved. It is not for the Scottish Government to intervene in how local authorities organise these services. However, Orkney Islands Council and NHS Orkney are working with the Scottish Government Joint Improvement Team to look into redesigning services to support more integrated working across health and social care.

In addition, the Scottish Government is funding three local authority test sites (Dumfries and Galloway, Glasgow and Highland Councils) to evaluate the effectiveness of three different interventions to increase the uptake of self-directed support, including bridging finance (investing to save).

The main vehicle for home insulation measures is through the UK Government''s Carbon Emission Reduction Target. This places an obligation on the Energy Supply companies to meet a carbon reduction target through a range of free and subsidised energy efficiency measures including home insulation. It is for the individual energy companies to decide how to meet their carbon targets. We are working with the energy suppliers, through the Scottish CERT Strategy Steering Group, to ensure that Scotland receives its fair share of CERT activity not only in terms of population, but also to meet our distinctive energy needs.

The new Energy Assistance package [which commences 6 April 2009] will do more to help rural households by including a wider range of measures which will benefit rural homes including air source heat pumps for those off the gas grid and a wider range of insulation measures for homes which cannot take traditional measures such as cavity wall insulation. To ensure that these more expensive measures can be installed the grant maximum has been raised by £500 to £4,000 and the upper grant has been raised by £1,000 to £6,500 for homes which have particularly poor energy efficiency. The measures will be available to private sector households where; the householder or partner is aged over 60 and has no central heating or where the householder lives in a home with poor energy efficiency, and is either aged over 75 or aged over 60 and receiving one of a range of passport benefits or tax credits. For the first time, families in homes with poor energy efficiency who receive one of a range of passport benefits or tax credits and have a child under five or a disabled child under 16 will also be eligible.

In the recent budget we announced proposals for the first phase of an ambitious area-based home insulation scheme supported by £15 million of new Scottish Government funding plus £15 million from other sources. The scheme is currently being developed and is expected to launch in the autumn.

We also intend to bring forward proposals for a significant loan mechanism. This will assist householders wishing to undertake more expensive measures, such as solid wall insulation and installing renewable technologies.

The number of grants awarded for each technology supported under the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative, and broken down by year, are listed in the following tables:

Household Stream

	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	Total
Air Source Heat Pumps	0	0	0	16	48	136	200
Bio Mass	4	14	31	47	64	96	256
Ground Source Heat Pumps	10	89	179	271	286	285	1,120
Hydro	0	1	3	2	4	0	10
Lerwick District Heating	0	42	15	18	31	16	122
Solar Hot Water	71	106	207	368	392	358	1,502
Solar Hot Water/Wind	1	0	0	1	0	0	2
Solar PV	0	0	0	0	0	8	8
Solar Space Heating	0	1	0	1	0	3	5
Wind	9	10	21	51	66	48	205

 

Community Stream

	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	Total
Solar Water	1	12	9	15	42	36	50	165
Solar Water/Air	1	13	8	7	0	9	9	47
Solar PV	0	1	4	4	0	4	4	17
Solar Water/GSHP	2	0	0	2	2	2	2	10
Wind	0	17	17	19	59	65	69	246
Wind/GSHP	0	0	2	2	0	3	3	10
Wind/Solar	0	2	3	3	0	4	6	18

 

	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	Total
Ground Source Heat Pumps	0	10	22	18	44	53	194
Air Source Heat Pumps	0	0	1	1	1	13	40
Water Source Heat Pumps	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
GSHP/Wind/Solar	0	10	5	0	7	7	41
Hydro	0	6	7	6	6	5	38
Bio Mass	4	16	27	22	26	17	160
Hydrogen	0	1	0	1	1	1	5
Whole Island	0	0	0	1	2	2	7

 

Under the Community Stream grants are also offered to improve the energy efficiency of the building.

Energy Efficiency Grants

	Insulation	Loft Insulation
2008-09	5	7
2007-08	14	0
2006-07	10	0
2005-06	11	0
2004-05	9	0
2003-04	0	0
Total	49	7

 

The Scottish CERT (Carbon Emissions Reduction Target) Strategy, which sets out how we are working with the energy suppliers to achieve a fair share of CERT activity in Scotland, will be published in the spring of 2009.

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/sor0305-01.htm

It is likely that the introduction of the proposed permitted development rights for domestic microgeneration equipment will increase the number of applications for grants through the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative. We will monitor demand for the scheme closely in light of the proposed changes to evaluate any effects.

The Order will reduce the number of planning applications that require to be determined by planning authorities. The Regulatory Impact Assessment, accompanying the proposed Order, estimates the number of these as follows:  (Table in para 5.19)

Year	Option 3*
2015	6,741
2020	15,190
2030	34,736
2050	62,974

 

By reducing the number of applications the Order will also result in a reduction in the revenue received by planning authorities. The Regulatory Impact Assessment estimates this to be as follows: (Table in para 5.27)

Year	Option 3* (£)
2010	980,000
2020	2,200,000
2030	5,000,000
2050	9,100,000

*Option 3 “ Permitted Development Rights Limited by Impact Thresholds.

Information for evaluating the success of the PD Order for domestic micro-generation will come through the feedback which the Directorate for the Built Environment receives from stakeholders, including practitioners, industry representatives and professional bodies, on all areas of planning. In this instance, this is likely to relate to striking the correct balance between allowing domestic micro-generation without planning applications and safeguarding the quality of our environment.

Removing barriers to the uptake of microgeneration equipment is expected to stimulate market demand for those technologies granted permitted development rights and therefore to create additional jobs in the manufacturing, installation and maintenance industries. The number of jobs will depend on the choice made by individual householders about the most suitable technology for their house.

The carbon-reducing impact will be from the increased up-take of renewable and low carbon sources of heat and electricity leading to carbon savings being made.

I also refer the member to the answer to question S3W-20747 on 2 March 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.