Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government provides funding to local councils through our Area Based Schemes to deliver energy efficiency improvements to households living in or at risk of fuel poverty. The guidance for the scheme specifies an average amount per property for the intensity of grant-in-aid that can usually be provided for fabric improvements.

This maxima was increased by £500 for all categories of property from 1 April 2020. This reflected feedback about increased costs of providing insulation received from all 32 councils and managing agents involved in delivery of the programme in
‎ 2019-20. Local councils can provide a higher intensity of grant-in-aid for households in extreme fuel poverty or other relevant factors, for example where there are additional costs due to non-standard construction type.

There is existing provision on celebrants not contravening provisions on gender reassignment discrimination by refusing to solemnise a marriage if the celebrant reasonably believes the gender of the person getting married has become the acquired gender under the Gender Recognition Act 2004. This provision is contained in paragraph 25 of schedule 3 of the Equality Act 2010: Equality Act 2010 (legislation.gov.uk) which is generally reserved to the UK Parliament. The Scottish Government’s intention is this provision would continue to apply under the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

The median annual income of successful applicants to the E-bike Loan Fund for the year 2021-22 is £29,429 (as of 14 October 2021).

Funding allocations to the E-bike Loan Fund, and unallocated funds for the financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22 up until mid-October are summarised in the following table.

The process to return Glasgow Prestwick Airport to the private sector continues and decisions have still to be taken in relation to the prospective sale of the business.

We have committed to updating Parliament on the sale process at the appropriate stage and to protect the integrity of the process we will not be making any further comment at this time.

The Scottish Government has provided a grant of £0.5 million to Care and Repair Scotland to support assistance for home owners with the installation of alarms to meet the new Scottish standard. Up to £400,000 of this grant may be used to purchase alarms, and up to £100,000 may be allocated to local offices for costs associated with fitting alarms.

We are aware that bus operators are reporting increasing shortages of bus drivers which is affecting bus services in some areas. These shortages are linked to wider workforce pressures such as high demand for drivers in the HGV and other sectors as well as ongoing staff sickness due to COVID-19. We are working with the industry to monitor the impact on service levels and officials are also in regular contact with the Department for Transport to identify and address issues delaying licence applications and driver testing which is a reserved matter. We continue to support operators to run services despite continuing reduced demand due to the pandemic with up to £210 million in additional funding being made available since June 2020.

The National Gender Identity Clinical Network for Scotland (NGICNS) publishes a general overview of gender identity clinic waiting times in Scotland in its annual reports. The latest published annual report from NGICNS is available at: https://www.ngicns.scot.nhs.uk/about-us/midannual-reports/

The next annual report from NGICNS is due for release from May 2022.

From March 2020 unfortunately, as with other parts of the NHS, services delivered by gender identity clinics were and continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Scottish Government fully recognises the need to reduce waiting times to access NHS gender identity services. That is why we have committed to improving access to these services in our 2021/22 Programme for Government .

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has a Policy in place regarding the treatment of Trans Prisoners in custody. This Policy is in line with the Equality Act 2010. The SPS carry out comprehensive risk assessments to assess risks to both prisoners and staff in determining how individual transgender prisoners are managed. The 2010 Act is generally reserved to the UK Parliament. The Scottish Government’s intention is this Policy would continue to have effect under the provisions in the draft Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

The Scottish Government is considering a number of options as solutions to replacing gas boilers and recognise that that, for a small number of buildings, bioenergy and in particular bio heating oil, bioLPG and biomass may prove to be the only practicable option for heat decarbonisation. However, it is likely that these properties will be in off gas grid areas.

Heat pumps and Heat Networks are widely used in other European countries and have been identified as near term priorities for replacing gas boilers in Scotland as set out in our recently published Heat in Buildings Strategy.

Regarding support for heat pumps, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02397 on 9 September 2021. 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

Heat networks are also a key strategic zero emissions heat technology. The Competition and Markets Authority found that up to 90% of heat network customers enjoy similar, or lower, bills than those with standard gas boilers and heat networks can cut both emissions and bills.

Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) fuel, like other bio fuels, is dependent on there being a sustainable supply of feedstock, and there remain concerns about lifecycle emissions. Further research is therefore required before Scottish Government could commit to any particular bio fuel. Scottish Government’s aim is to see bioenergy used where it has the greatest value in reducing emissions. However this decision is also dependent on lifecycle emissions and which sectors will make the best use of the bioenergy feedstocks. Emerging technologies and the push to decarbonise across the economy may also create new demands on these finite resources.

We intend to publish a Bioenergy Action Plan in 2023 which will set out a strategic framework for how the available biomass resources and technologies can be used to best effect.