Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question: S6W-26978 on 7 May 2024, which details the spend and homes delivered by local authority area; S6W-27110 on 14 May 2024, which provides details on applications approved; and S6W-27112 on 14 May 2024 which details the spend by applicant in the 2023-2024 National Acquisition Programme. 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.

In 2023-2024, the National Acquisition Programme helped to bring almost 1,500 homes into affordable use, 94% (1,413) of which were homes for social rent. Due to the effectiveness of this programme in accelerating the delivery of affordable homes and boosting affordable housing supply, we have allocated the additional £40 million in 2024-2025 to acquire properties to help with temporary accommodation pressures or, where appropriate, to bring long term void properties back into use with a further £40 million being made available in 2025-2026.

The Scottish Government has not made a recent assessment of the legislative requirement for Crown Estate Scotland to obtain market value in its transactions. An assessment is not required under the Scottish Crown Estate Act 2019.

Scottish Government do not (a) incentivise (c)inhibit or (d) discriminate against community owned energy providers. Scottish Government conduct all procurement in accordance with the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 and the Public Procurement Regulations. Under Section 8 – General Duties of the Act, procurement authorities must:

“in carrying out a regulated procurement—

(a) treat relevant economic operators equally and without discrimination,

(b) act in a transparent and proportionate manner.”

To actively incentivise or discriminate any provider or group of providers would be a clear breach of the requirements of the Act.

The framework terms and conditions do (b) facilitate self generating sources to approach the Supplier, and there is a mechanism in the Terms and Conditions for local authorities to approach EDF to sell electricity which they have generated. The Framework also has included the option of Power Purchase Agreements.

The terms and conditions state that for the Supply of Electricity from a self-generating source the Supplier shall enter into a Power Purchase Agreement with such Scottish Public Sector Body on normal commercial terms. Such purchase shall stand entirely separate to the arrangements under the Framework and the Supplier shall not be under any obligation to sleeve the electrical output of such Public Body’s facility into the supply of electricity under the framework.

The Supply of Electricity agreement has also included the options of 6 different Power Purchase Agreement variations as part of the Statement of Requirements and the Terms and Conditions, these include.

Option 1 - A PPA entered into between the Scottish Government (Authority) and a third party generator. The generator is not a Client under the Framework. (Direct PPA)

Option 2 - A PPA entered into between the Contractor and a third party generator. The generator is not a Client under the Framework. (Indirect PPA)

Option 3 - A PPA entered into between the Scottish Government (Authority) and a generator. The generator is a Client under the Framework ( for example a Local Authority). Under this category of PPA the power sleeved into the Framework volume for use by the entire portfolio

Option 4 - A PPA entered into between the Contractor and a generator. The generator is a Client under the Framework. Under this category of PPA the power sleeved into the Framework volume would be for use by the entire portfolio.

Option 5 – : Export PPA where Client under the framework sells excess volume to the Contractor

Option 6 (as advice only) - Private Wire. This category is distinct from any of the above as it involves a direct physical connection between the generator and the buyer.

Overall the National Framework for the Supply of Electricity includes a statement of requirements and Ts and Cs which are agreed by the User Intelligence Group made up of public sector representatives (including representatives from local authorities). They have set out that the framework supplier needs to ensure it has the capacity to secure forward purchases on behalf of all framework customers. The Supplier also needs to account manage each individual customer organisation including billing, invoicing, meter reading queries, complaints, energy efficiency queries, and social value programmes within the framework. As well as managing the consumption for over 30,000 meters for electricity that are part of the portfolio. Therefore the supplier needs to have capacity to trade large volumes and achieve Value For Money for the whole Scottish public sector.

All of these aspects have been set out as well as the options of Power Purchase Agreements and the mechanism for local authorities to approach the Supplier to sell the power which has been self-generated.

The Scottish Government Procurement and Property Directorate (SPPD) conduct all procurements in accordance with the requirements of procurement law which requires that we treat all providers equally and without discrimination. National Statutory, Policy and Best Practice guidance is available to support buyers across the public sector on delivering against our ambitions, along with a range of point-of-use tools, support and training for buyers and suppliers.

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 includes a Sustainable Procurement Duty which requires all public sector procurers to consider how their procurement process can:

“Facilitate the involvement of small and medium sized enterprises, third sector bodies and supported businesses in the procurement process” (Section 9(1)(a)(ii) of the Act)

To support the procurement officers with making decisions about the best approach to market, the Scottish Government provide a suite of Sustainable Procurement tools which ensure that appropriate consideration is given at strategy stage to the nature of the requirement, the complexity of the market and the volumes which require to be delivered to identify the best strategy and approach.

The outcome of this test is considered by the team and informs the strategy which is then presented to a cross sectoral User Intelligence Group (UIG), consisting of procurement and technical staff from across the public sector. For the provision of the national electricity framework, the UIG agreed with the SPPD recommendation that a single supplier framework would deliver best value, taking into account the requirement for competitive pricing and guaranteed security of supply.

The framework terms and conditions have a mechanism for local authorities to approach EDF to sell electricity which they have generated. The Framework also has included the option of Power Purchase Agreements.

The terms and conditions state that for the Supply of Electricity from a self-generating source the Supplier shall enter into a Power Purchase Agreement with such Scottish Public Sector Body on normal commercial terms. Such purchase shall stand entirely separate to the arrangements under the Framework and the Supplier shall not be under any obligation to sleeve the electrical output of such Public Body’s facility into the supply of electricity under the framework.

The Supply of Electricity agreement has also included the options of 6 different Power Purchase Agreement variations as part of the Statement of Requirements and the Terms and Conditions.

Inclusion of these terms within the structure of the Framework Agreements ensures that our procurement of Electricity is conducted in a fair and proportionate manner.

There are 107 entries in the pilot phase of the Cladding Remediation Programme. Entries in the pilot can comprise a single block or building, or a development, or part of a development consisting of multiple blocks or buildings.

Only a Single Building Assessment meeting the Scottish Standards can identify what cladding if any, a building has and further identify whether the cladding is unsafe.

Developers, homeowners or other organisations could have commissioned assessments without informing the Scottish Government. Therefore, the true number may be higher and could increase as further information becomes available.

The Just Transition Fund has allocated £75 million to date, supporting projects and communities across the North East and Moray to create jobs, support innovation, and secure the highly skilled workforce of the future.

My officials are in exploratory discussions with the service provider and users of the Timberlink ferry service to explore the future of the contract. As part of this officials are engaging with Timberlink users to assess the feasibility of introducing a new funding contribution from them. At this stage no formal impact assessment has been undertaken.

At present no timeline is available for the completion of all remedial works however work is on going with developers to ensure timely completion.

FLS has a portfolio of 25 operational windfarms on the national forests and land, amounting to a total of 1217MW installed generation capacity. FLS is not currently aware of any community ownership in this portfolio.

The National Electricity Supply expires on 31 March 2026, the framework has 3 optional 12 month extensions.

Variations to the framework can be made, however these must be in accordance with procurement law and be non-material changes and in agreement with the Supplier.