- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many (a) insulation engineers, (b) thermal insulation engineers, (c) glaziers, (d) heating and ventilation engineers, (e) plumbing and heating engineers, (f) electricians and (g) Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) assessors are currently working in Scotland, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The Office for National Statistics, Broad Industry Group Region by broad industry group (Standard Industrial Classification) – Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES): Table 4 - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) , provides annual data for employee and employment estimates working in construction areas in Scotland including, but not limited to; plumbing, installation of heating and air-conditioning systems, electrical work and insulation work (water, heat, sound). The most recent data was published on 25 October 2023.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to make Scotland an attractive place to open businesses within the low-carbon heat and energy efficiency sector.
Answer
The recent ClimateXChange Report shows potential for businesses in the sector, the proposed Heat in Buildings Bill will underpin increasing demand in sector giving more confidence to businesses to invest which will be supported by other action such as that set out in Supply Chain Delivery Plan.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what economic assessment it has undertaken regarding any impact of its proposal for buyers to install clean heating systems if their property does not already have one on the affordability of new build homes within the (a) rural and (b) urban housing market.
Answer
A Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment was completed for the provisions contained within The Building (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2023 (which introduce the New Build Heat Standard from 1 April 2024). This contains an assessment of how the Standard may impact costs associated with new homes across Scotland.
Supporting documents - New Build Heat Standard 2024: business and regulatory impact assessment - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the 2022 ClimateXChange report, Clean Heat and Energy Efficiency Workforce Assessment, which scenario the Scottish economy is currently tracking in terms of uptake of thermal insulation measures.
Answer
The scenarios were developed to understand the potential workforce requirements in Scotland to meet projected clean heat and energy efficiency targets. These were indicative forecast scenarios and are not expectations/projections of future demand and for this reason are not currently tracked.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to gathering data on double glazing and draught-proofing measures fitted in Scotland's buildings.
Answer
The Scottish Government collects data on double glazing and draught proofing of loft hatches within occupied homes through the annual Scottish House Condition Survey.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what economic assessment it has undertaken regarding its proposal for private landlords to meet a minimum energy efficiency standard by 2028 and any potential impact on the availability of private rental homes.
Answer
This proposal is contained within the current public consultation Delivering net zero for Scotland's buildings - Heat in Buildings Bill: consultation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . A draft business and regulatory impact assessment has been published to support this consultation Heat in Buildings Bill consultation: business and regulatory impact assessment (partial) - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .
This draft impact assessment and a range of other relevant impact assessments will be developed and then finalised based on the outcome of the consultation. Further development of proposals will then occur and will be the subject of detailed final impact assessments.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to energy efficiency SMEs to (a) identify and (b) apply for support to upskill or re-skill their current workforce.
Answer
Information on public sector support available to businesses in Scotland can be found on FindBusinessSupport.gov.scot.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider publishing the research, Scottish Supply Chain Opportunities in the Low Carbon Heat Sector, which was carried out by Delta-EE for Scottish Enterprise in 2020.
Answer
The report was commissioned by Scottish Enterprise as internal analysis to inform policy development. As such, this will not be published externally.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the development of district heating networks across Scotland.
Answer
The Heat Networks (Scotland) Act, 2021 requires a review report to be laid before parliament 24 months after the publication of the Heat Networks Delivery Plan. The Delivery Plan was published on 31 March 2022 and the review report is due by 31 March 2024. The review report will provide an update on the development of district heating networks across Scotland.
Information on heat networks projects that have or are receiving support from the Scottish Government can be found in the Heat Network Quarterly Report, which provides summaries of the projects funded through Scotland’s Heat Network Fund, Scotland’s Heat in Buildings Development Funding Invitation and the Heat Network Support Unit. Support for heat networks has also been provided through the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme, with its quarterly report providing an updated construction status for its funded projects. These reports can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/collections/heat-network-project-reports/ and https://www.gov.scot/collections/low-carbon-infrastructure-transition-programme-reports/ respectively.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to carry out an assessment of workforce capability to support all aspects of installation and maintenance of low-carbon heat and energy efficiency measures.
Answer
Our Heat in Buildings Supply Chains Delivery Plan sets out practical steps that we will take to support the growth of the green heat sector. We continue to work in partnership with the sector to ensure that the appropriate support and training provision are aligned at a local level with business needs and future local demands.