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Yes, we are working to support SMEs. For example, an issue that might be faced by some smaller developers is that, with their smaller building programmes, they will have a little bit less flexibility with regard to the gap—the time period—-between April 2024 and the building warrants coming to an end. A larger developer might be able to manage their building programme in a slightly more flexible way during that period, while a smaller developer might have fewer options. I know that Antonia Georgieva has been working on that, so perhaps she would like to come in.

As I mentioned in my opening remarks, we have decided to allow the use of direct-emissions heating in emergencies. That kind of emergency back-up might involve the option to use bioenergy, whether in solid or liquid form. Fundamentally, though, bioenergy systems produce direct emissions, which is the position that we need to move away from.

Alternative options are available for new builds. For example, when looking at the regulations on the existing housing stock, we need to take account of what is technically feasible and what the exemptions and allowances might be. That is a matter for future consideration.

The Climate Change Committee has acknowledged that bioenergy might have a limited role to play, but that it needs to be used where it has the potential to maximise emissions reduction and where there is no alternative zero-emissions technology. We think that that is far less likely in relation to new builds, where there are other options for installation instead of bioenergy systems being put in as a primary heating source from the outset.

In line with the Climate Change Committee’s recommendation that bioenergy systems be used where no alternative is available, we do not believe that installing such systems as primary heating systems for new builds is appropriate.

Antonia Georgieva wants to come in again.

I am sure that I can expect a parliamentary question on that issue.

We were clear when we debated the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Bill and took it through the Parliament that, in cases of severe rent arrears, a tenant does not simply need to be stuck in one place, accruing ever more debt. That was one reason why severe rent arrears were included as a ground for pursuing eviction.

I do not expect the new-build heat standard to impact on the number of planning applications. That concern might be slightly misplaced.

Clearly, developers need to be at the point of making applications that they know will command confidence and comply with the building standards. Many are already doing that. As I have said, many forward-thinking housing developers are already making that a default expectation in their new developments. Antonia Georgieva will come in on some of the planning issues and NPF4.

To move slightly beyond the new-build heat standard, local authorities are expected to play a larger role in the energy system more generally. The Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021, which was passed at the tail end of the most recent parliamentary session and which is now being implemented, places a requirement on local authorities to develop their local heat and energy efficiency strategies. That tool will be important in identifying, for example, places in which heat networks will be the most likely solution for zero-emissions heating, and the nature of building stock when it comes to the requirement for investment in energy efficiency.

Local authorities and social housing providers could have a linchpin role in becoming the lead organisations in new heat networks. There is a huge opportunity for local authorities to undertake that work. Some were already well advanced in that before the legal requirement was placed on them, but all are now in the final stages of completing their local heat and energy efficiency strategy, which gives them a real opportunity to learn lessons from countries such as Denmark, which advise us closely on a lot of this, where local authorities have had and still have a leading role not just in energy reduction but in decarbonisation, which gives them huge opportunities

Principally, we would be talking about heat pumps and connection to heat networks. There are other electrical systems, too; for example, some people might choose to use smart electric storage.

The regulations are technology neutral. We expect that heat pumps will play a substantial role in complying with the new-build heat standard as well as wider retrofit for the rest of the housing stock.

I would take some convincing that, for a new build, the only way to move away from fossil fuels would be to install, from the outset, a bioenergy system that itself produced direct carbon emissions. There would be other options for complying with the new-build heat standard. Installing a bioenergy system would not be consistent with the Climate Change Committee’s recommendation.

Yes. As I said earlier, last year’s updates to the regulations made improvements with regard to energy; this set is about the heating systems that will be installed. We are also working, in line with the commitment in the Bute house agreement, on developing a Passivhaus-equivalent standard for Scotland. That is supported by Labour colleagues such as Alex Rowley, who has done work in that area.

As I have said, some of the people to whom I have spoken who are the happiest with their energy bills are those living in Passivhaus-standard or near-Passivhaus-standard homes, because it is the energy that they are not using that is the most beneficial to them. If we can achieve something equivalent to that in Scotland, which I believe that we can—although I should say that a lot of homes will still need some kind of system; they will certainly need a heating system for hot water—people will still have something that reduces the draw on energy and therefore reduces their bills very substantially.

Again, the legislation is about a direction of travel and a transition with regard to heat that has many different aspects. The new-build heat standard is one aspect, and it will complement and be complemented by the work that we intend to take forward on a Passivhaus-equivalent standard for Scotland.

I will ask Antonia Georgieva to build on the comments that she made on SME support.

It is worth separating out the rent cap provisions from the eviction moratorium provisions. With the social housing sector—local authority and housing association housing—we reached a different approach on the rent cap. We agreed that approach, taking account of the sector’s concerns and its different nature, such as the way in which rental income is reinvested for public purposes, whether that is for services for tenants, retrofit to improve energy performance or investment in new build. We recognised a range of differences in the way that the private and the social rented sectors operate, and we found that the best solution was to work with the social rented sector to agree a voluntary limit on average rent rises across Scotland.

We removed social housing from the fixed absolute rent cap and agreed the voluntary approach. For an average size of property, that amounted to a close monetary equivalence between the increased rent cap after it raised from zero and the voluntary agreement that was reached with the social housing sector. My view is that that has achieved a level of stability for tenants in a way that has been agreed mutually with the sector.

Some of the sector’s concerns might be more focused on the eviction moratorium rather than on rent. We believe that, in the current climate, it remains important for people to have the additional time available to them if they are faced with the prospect of eviction. Safeguards remain for social landlords that need to evict someone—for example, that can happen in cases of severe or serious antisocial behaviour. For the most part, social landlords, whether they are local authorities or housing associations, have been very responsible landlords and have never wanted to move to eviction as their first recourse. They seek to achieve better outcomes for their tenants. They have had pre-eviction protocols in place for substantially longer than they have been a requirement in the private rented sector.

Therefore, I believe that we still have the right balance when it comes to protection for tenants who might face the prospect of eviction in some circumstances, and protection for landlords, whether in the social sector or the private sector, who, in rare circumstances, have a legitimate need to pursue an eviction order.