Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07564 on 22 April 2022. 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 .

We are working to deliver our Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP) in the context of a fast-moving energy landscape, and will publish a draft ESJTP in autumn 2022. As our first Just Transition Plan, the ESJTP will set out what is needed to deliver a just transition for the sector, in line with the Scottish Government’s approach to just transition. This includes work to support retention and creation of access to green, fair and high-value work, as well as ensuring access to required skills and retraining opportunities. As part of this, we will identify the opportunities and risks of the transition, including those associated with transitioning jobs.

Throughout this, we remain committed to ensuring green jobs are good, green jobs, drawing on fair work principles, complying with high workplace standards and paying fair wages. That is true across the economy, but especially important in sectors vital for reaching net zero, such as the energy sector where much public investment is targeted.

Energy Saving Trust operates the suite of energy advice services for home owners, SMEs and community groups on behalf of the Scottish Government.

To deliver this across Scotland the services are delivered by advice centre contractors through 5 regional advice centres and a centralised team covering out of hours. Each advice centre delivers the services to a consistent set of standards which are required by Energy Saving trust in the contract they have with the advice centre contractors.

The quality and consistency of advice provided by the programmes is directly monitored by EST. This monitoring includes the quality and relevancy of advice provided by an advisor, who are tasked with asking questions to understand each customer, their circumstances, their home/premises and their energy behaviours. This is so they can ensure advice topics they discuss are relevant and useful for each individual customer. Advisors use the same EST approved resource documents and facts and figures to ensure each topic they advise on is consistent.

The Scottish Government has regular contact to ensure EST are meeting pre-agreed targets and maintaining the high standard of the advice that is expected of these services.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07568 on 19 April 2022. 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 .

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) provide an assessment of the theoretical energy performance of existing and new buildings. They are generated by accredited EPC Assessors, belonging to Assessor Organisations approved by the Scottish Government. EPC assessors are required to have the necessary skills and expertise to operate the software that produces EPCs according to the standardised national methodology (SAP) developed by the UK Government and used by the Scottish Government. SAP produces indicative recommendations on how to improve the EPC score– which can include low carbon heating technologies where they are cost effective (however energy efficiency measures are currently prioritised).

The Scottish Government recognises that at present, the information presented on EPCs needs to be reformed, in line with the recommendations of the Climate Change Committee. That is why we have consulted on reforming EPCs to ensure that the metrics and recommendations align with our net zero target. This includes reforming the current energy efficiency metric, which has often incentivised fossil fuelled heating ahead of zero emissions heating solutions. We are now completing further research and intend for reformed EPCs to provide additional information on suitable zero emissions heating systems, and to provide information on the costs associated with such systems, together with energy efficiency measures, and their impacts on the costs of heating a building. As part of our wider proposed legislative programme, we will consult further on the detail of our proposals and will ensure that accredited EPC assessors have the skills needed to produce the reformed certificates.

Building owners can also seek further specialist advice on low carbon heating options beyond those generated in an EPC from a heating specialist or Building Service Engineer (represented by the professional body CIBSE). The Energy Savings Trust, Home Energy Scotland and Zero Waste Scotland provide further information and advice on low carbon heating on the behalf of the Scottish Government.

Home Energy Scotland (HES) is the main advice and referral mechanism to all Scottish Government energy efficiency schemes for homeowners. Energy Saving Trust (EST) manages the HES Service on behalf of the Scottish Government. Home Energy Scotland provide regular figures to the Scottish Government on the numbers of households they advise and the value of that advice. The Scottish Government has regular contact with EST to ensure they are meeting pre-agreed targets and maintaining the high standard of the advice that is expected of these services.

Householders making an enquiry to the HES service are dealt with by trained and qualified (SQA) advisors. HES advisers use a series of tools to ensure that the advice provided is based on the most effective measure for each householders’ specific needs. A fabric first approach is also recommended to households to ensure that heat loss is minimised before the most efficient routes to supplying the remaining residual heat requirements are considered. The analysis provided by an advisor to a householder is informed by use of a personalised Home Energy Check (HEC). The Home Energy Check is generated using bespoke energy modelling software which is used to model the thermal and other energy use characteristics of each property based on data provided by the householder. The HEC can be completed online independently by the householder via the HES website or over the telephone with an advisor.

For vulnerable householders who may require a little more support to be able to engage fully with the service or for households considering installation of low and zero carbon heating or renewable energy technologies, further specialist advice is available which can include a visit from an advisor and a bespoke onsite survey of the home. Energy modelling software is again used to model the property and to generate measures recommendations and savings figures for the householder. Through use of approved bespoke energy modelling and ensuring that advice is only delivered by suitably qualified advisors, the quality of recommendations and advice given to householders is maintained at a consistent, high level.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is determined everyone with long COVID gets the care and support that is most appropriate for them - regardless of their gender. NHS Scotland is already providing support and care across the full range of NHS services, including primary care teams and community-based rehabilitation services with referrals to secondary care where necessary.

We understand many unpaid carers have required extra support balancing work and care during the pandemic and we have made it very clear that employers should use carer’s leave flexibly in these circumstances. We are promoting awareness and flexibility for unpaid carers in the workplace through the Carer Positive initiative.

Flexible working practices are another way to support women in the workplace and is especially important for those with health concerns and those with caring responsibilities– particularly women, to whom the balance of caring still too often falls.

The Scottish Government funded Flexibility Works in 2021-22 with £94,850 to support and promote the development of flexible and family friendly workplaces. We are developing a programme of further support this year which will include offering vital advice and support to business and organisations on the benefits of flexible working practices such as working from home, hybrid and remote working.

In September 2021, the Scottish Government also introduced new criteria in its Fair Work First approach, asking employers who are receiving public sector grants and delivering public contracts to commit to offering flexible and family friendly working practices – helping people to balance work and family life.

We have worked in partnership with NHS 24 to develop a long COVID information resource on NHS Inform, in order to provide people living with long COVID with clear and accessible guidance about self-management. This resource includes specific advice on navigating a return to work.

In delivering the National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care, we worked in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders across Health and Social Care including the CoSLA as co-producers to agree the scope and content.

This included on-going engagement with representatives of the allied health professions via relevant senior professional advisers seconded to the Scottish Government, and through our staff and trades union partnership working.

On 8 February 2022 a draft of the Strategy was presented to the Professional Advisory Group, Chaired by the Deputy Chief Medical Officer with members representing Optometry and Audiology. Feedback from professionals at that meeting was subsequently incorporated into the draft Strategy, in anticipation of its subsequent publication.

Further stakeholder engagement will take place as we plan to publish yearly updates to the National Workforce Strategy. These will take into account progress and new developments, in support of its long-term ambition to deliver recovery, growth and service transformation.

The Scottish Government’s approach to zero emissions heat technologies is based on a wide range of evidence, including modelling of the suitability of different technologies across the whole Scottish housing stock, and consideration of wider energy system interactions.

We maintain an active Heat in Buildings Research Programme to identify gaps in our knowledge base and produce high-quality research to understand the challenges and solutions in the heat transition.

We have commissioned research to examine the potential of energy storage technologies to reduce running costs for households using zero emissions heat. The research considers how bill savings can be made by pairing storage technologies with onsite generation, and by storing off-peak electricity for later use. This research will be published in 2022.

When calculating this increase, it has been assumed that the additional return points are manual return points, which have a lower cost than those with reverse vending machines.

Zero Waste Scotland carried out an intensive data-gathering process to arrive at the figure of 17,000 which remains our best and final estimate of the number of return points, prior to implementation. Although we modelled the figure of 37,000 to provide a sensitivity analysis for the economic case for our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), we are confident that we have identified all the larger retail sites, and if these additional return points did exist, they would overwhelmingly be manual return points. Circularity Scotland Ltd, the scheme administrator for our DRS who provided the figure of 37,000, agrees with this assessment.