Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government does not have any plans to change the law regarding the protection of gulls, including herring gulls.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 provides protection for all wild birds. NatureScot has responsibility for the issuing of General Licences under Section 16(1) of the Act, which authorise the killing and taking of certain wild birds including their eggs, for one or more of several reasons including public health and safety.

NatureScot held a consultation on General Licences between August and October 2019. Following this consultation, several species were removed from the 2020 General Licences, including herring, lesser black-backed and great black-backed gulls, either on the basis that there was insufficient evidence of the damage they caused; there are alternative non-lethal solutions; or there are conservation concerns over their population status. Where species have been removed from the General Licence, authorised persons are still able to apply to NatureScot for a specific licence to control them or undertake lethal control, including nest and egg destruction in some circumstances.

A UK seabird census, organised by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, is currently being undertaken which includes an element that aims to estimate the populations of species that breed in urban environments. The final report, which is due to be published next year, will help inform future policy in dealing with urban gull populations.

The package of enhancements identified via the option selection process is to be confirmed by Transport Scotland by the end of 2022, as part of its endorsement of the Outline Business Cases for both this project and the related project to decarbonise this route. As advised in my response to S6W-08116, the package comprises signal enhancements, improvements to station approaches and specific capacity alternations to facilitate the mixed operation of faster and slower trains on the same route.

The Scottish Government is introducing the New Build Heat Standard from 2024 in direct response to the recommendation of the Committee on Climate Change on how to meet the net-zero obligation legislated for, and agreed by all parties, in the Scottish Parliament.

Heat pump operating costs will vary across properties, with the precise impact depending on factors such as the design and quality of the heating system, user operation, and the energy efficiency of the property.

We have commissioned two research projects which considered the running costs associated with zero direct emissions heating (ZDEH) technologies within new homes, including heat pumps, against a gas boiler counterfactual. A copy of these research reports is available here:

• Costs of zero emissions heating in new buildings (climatexchange.org.uk)
• Renewable and zero direct emissions heating systems in affordable housing projects (phase 2): evaluation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

This analysis supports the reasonable assumption that the costs of an air source heat pump are generally comparable with gas in a new home. However, we would highlight that the analysis pre-dates the energy crisis, and that we do not have updated modelling available to reflect the current price cap. We also urge the UK Government to follow through on its commitment to publish proposals to rebalance energy bill costs by the end of 2022. Given the abundance of low cost renewables in the UK and the urgent need to decarbonise buildings, it should be cheaper to run an electrically-driven heat pump than a gas boiler.

A full Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) will be published when these regulations are introduced, incorporating the findings from these research reports and other relevant information.

Our Heat in Buildings Workforce Assessment Project, published in June 2022, provided an analysis of the current scale of the existing workforce in Scotland trained to fit certain zero emission heating systems such as heat pumps. The report highlighted that there are no publicly available statistics regarding the total number of heat pump installers in the UK and Scotland, but estimated that there are around 500 trained heat pump installers currently active in Scotland, based on data from the Microrenewable Certification Scheme. The report highlights that other forms of zero direct emissions heating such as direct electric radiators can be installed by an electrician, without any specialist heating knowledge, and there were an estimated 22,000 electricians operating in Scotland in 2018.

We are working with industry to understand the capacity of the supply chain to deliver against the New Build Heat Standard from 2024, including the availability of trained installers. At the introduction of these regulations, a full Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) will be published and the findings of the research above, and any other relevant information will be incorporated into the assessment.

As set out in our Part II consultation on the New Build Heat Standard (NBHS) ( New build heat standard consultation: part II - Scottish Government - Citizen Space ), the Scottish Government proposes that from 2024, new buildings must use zero direct emissions heating systems of the sort set out at section 2.2.1 of that consultation.

It is our intention for these regulations to be technology-neutral, to ensure developers have flexibility in achieving compliance.

The Scottish Government has previously commissioned research to establish the direct greenhouse gas emissions associated with all readily available low and zero direct emissions heating systems. A copy of this research is available here: Direct greenhouse gas emissions from low and zero carbon heating systems (climatexchange.org.uk)

Our Heat in Buildings Workforce Assessment Project, published in June 2022, provided an analysis of the current scale of the existing workforce in Scotland trained to fit certain zero emission heating systems such as heat pumps. The report highlighted that there are no publicly available statistics regarding the total number of heat pump installers in the UK and Scotland, but estimated that there are around 500 trained heat pump installers currently active in Scotland, based on data from the Microrenewable Certification Scheme. The report highlights that other forms of zero direct emissions heating such as direct electric radiators can be installed by an electrician, without any specialist heating knowledge, and there were an estimated 22,000 electricians operating in Scotland in 2018.

Ultimately, sending employees on training courses to develop new skills is the responsibility of businesses in the supply chain and this will be guided by commercial drivers. However we have sought to support businesses by offering free heat pump training in Scottish colleges through our National Transition Training Fund, with over £470,000 funding to support over 500 college places since 2020. This support combined with our early signal of intent and consultation on the proposed NBHS standard has provided businesses with an opportunity to prepare their workforce for regulation.

There are no specific statutory minimum qualifications required to install zero direct emissions heating systems, however we have worked with industry to define the minimum skillsets and recommended minimum qualifications required to install a full spectrum of zero direct emission heating systems, and have published this as part of an Installer Skill Matrix .

We have worked to integrate this matrix into the certification schemes that underpin quality assurance in any public funded work, and we would encourage the private sector to also use this in any non-public funded works.

To date we have provided £164,700 capital investment in colleges in the North of Scotland for heat pump and thermal insulation training equipment, with further investment in the South of Scotland provided by the Scottish Power Green Economy Fund. According to the Energy Skills Partnership, there are currently 11 colleges in Scotland with capacity to train up to 120 heat pump engineers each month. Three new training facilities will come online later this year, taking capacity to 150 each month. We understand that this provision is capable of meeting existing levels of demand for training in the sector.

We are committed to working with the new build sector to ensure that our investment in skills and training matches the needs of the sector as demand grows in the future.

The Scottish Government is introducing the New Build Heat Standard from 2024 in direct response to the recommendation of the Committee on Climate Change on how to meet the net zero legal obligations legislated for by the Scottish Parliament.

Within the 2019 UK housing: Fit for the future? publication, the Committee on Climate Change recommended that “from 2025 at the latest, no new homes should be connected to the gas grid. They should instead be heated through low carbon sources”. A copy of this report can be found here: UK housing: Fit for the future? - Climate Change Committee (theccc.org.uk)

In a subsequent letter to the UK Government , the CCC recommended that: “The full definition of the Future Homes Standard should be set now and legislated ahead of 2024 to give market certainty. Waiting until 2024 to legislate is likely to drive up compliance costs in the long run, given the history of the cancelled Zero Carbon Homes policy which left many investments stranded and weakened industry confidence. We also urge you to consider bringing forward the 2025 introduction date - we note that Scotland are due to introduce equivalent standards a year earlier.”

We initially announced our intention to regulate new build heating systems in September 2019, five years in advance of the regulations coming into force, and we are actively working with the construction sector to inform the development of these new regulations – including through establishment of an external working group, membership of which includes trade bodies representing Scottish and UK house builders.

That five year prior notification has given the construction sector significant time in which to plan for these new regulations coming into force. It is longer than the three year duration of a building warrant - meaning that no builder could have pre-ordered fossil fuel heating for an active or planned building warrant without being aware of the proposed prohibition on fossil fuel heating systems in new buildings applying from 2024.

The regulation and funding of electricity networks are reserved to the UK Government. However, we are engaging closely with Ofgem and BEIS to ensure that its policy and regulation recognises and enables Scotland’s world leading net zero target, and this includes our plans for heat decarbonisation.

The Scottish Government has also worked closely with network companies to ensure their business plans reflect the scale and pace of low carbon technology deployment required to meet net zero targets. We have also set up a new Heat Electrification Strategic Partnership (HESP) with them as a forum within which to further develop our understanding of the scale, pace and location of network investment needed.

Ofgem’s draft determinations on these plans have proposed a combined allowance of £2.5bn for both Scottish Network companies with additional allowance being made available, should the rate of deployment be higher than anticipated.

Since its launch in August 2020, the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund has committed £15.3 million for the retrofit of 1804 Social Housing properties across Scotland. The fund offers grant support of up to 50% of the total eligible costs of the project, with the average amount of support provided per property being £8,300.

The Scottish Government is introducing the New Build Heat Standard from 2024 in direct response to the recommendation of the Committee on Climate Change on how to meet the net-zero legal obligations legislated for by the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish Government has previously commissioned research which considered the capital costs associated with delivering zero direct emissions heating (ZDEH) technologies within new homes.

The research found that the installation of ZDEH systems ranged from £2,000 to £5,000 more than compared to a gas boiler counterfactual. However, these costs are highly variable and depend on a range of factors from the choice of system used to the nature of the construction of the individual development. It is also expected that both innovation and economies of scale will reduce the price of ZDEH systems as Scotland and many other countries increase their deployment.

Conversely, in off-gas areas, the capital costs of ZDEH systems were found to be comparable with fossil fuel alternatives (such as oil boilers).

Copies of the research papers are available here:

• Renewable and zero emissions heating systems in affordable housing projects: evaluation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
• Costs of zero emissions heating in new buildings (climatexchange.org.uk)

At the introduction of these regulations, a full Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) will be published – and the findings from these research reports and other relevant information will be incorporated into the final BRIA.

The sale price of a new building is a matter that is determined by each individual developer and takes into account a range of variables related to the cost of construction of the building and the local housing market.