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Seòmar agus comataidhean

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 12 March 2025
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Displaying 2092 contributions

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Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Retrofitting of Housing for Net Zero

Meeting date: 21 January 2025

Willie Coffey

What is the great catalyst that will get a substantial transformation? Is it price, or reliability and trust? Or is it both?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Retrofitting of Housing for Net Zero

Meeting date: 21 January 2025

Willie Coffey

What alternative schemes can people choose? Are all our eggs in the heat pump basket, or can people find out about other technologies that they could deploy and whether those would be appropriate for their homes?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Retrofitting of Housing for Net Zero

Meeting date: 21 January 2025

Willie Coffey

Heat networks were mentioned earlier. The cabinet secretary gave the example of Glasgow City Council, which is ahead of the game and doing some really good work to establish heat networks and leverage private sector investment to help us on that journey. Could you say a wee bit more about where we are across Scotland with heat networks?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 21 January 2025

Willie Coffey

You spoke about social care services, and you will be aware of the Feeley review and the Accounts Commission telling us that the demands in that area are pretty severe. If there is any scope, any unallocated resource, would that be among your priorities for additional support, if that were possible?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 21 January 2025

Willie Coffey

Would continuing to be ignored—you say that you have written three letters with no response—force you to reconsider whether to impose a cap, if local authorities chose to apply a big increase in council tax?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Retrofitting of Housing for Net Zero

Meeting date: 21 January 2025

Willie Coffey

I have a few questions to wrap up the meeting. In your letter to the committee, you told us that 27 of the 32 local authorities have published their local heat and energy efficiency strategies, so some have not. Have you got any indication as to why we do not have a complete set?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Retrofitting of Housing for Net Zero

Meeting date: 21 January 2025

Willie Coffey

Based on what you know and what you have received, are local authorities’ submissions chiming with the Government’s aims and direction of travel? Do you see co-operation being at the heart of local authorities’ strategies for progressing the work?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Retrofitting of Housing for Net Zero

Meeting date: 21 January 2025

Willie Coffey

Public engagement is crucial. We need to bring the public along with us by making them aware of what is available to them and what support they can get. Are you confident that public engagement is as good as it can be, or are you planning to do any more work to give the public more and better information to enable them to make the choices that they will have to make?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2025-26

Meeting date: 21 January 2025

Willie Coffey

Good morning. I have a question about council tax, which is everybody’s favourite subject at this committee.

You are on record as saying that you do not think that substantial council tax rises are needed. In your opening remarks, you also said that the settlement should minimise any council tax increases that people may face. Is the Government minded to indicate what it considers to be reasonable at the moment?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Retrofitting of Housing for Net Zero

Meeting date: 21 January 2025

Willie Coffey

What will the catalyst be for complete transformation? For me, it seems that it will be the price. People in private sector housing are looking at prices. Electricity is four times the price of gas, so they are essentially making a decision based on that.

Are they also making their decision based on trusted partners? In other words, who can they trust on the systems that are being recommended to them and where can they see evidence of such systems working that would enable them to make the transformation?

In your view, are those two factors crucial for solving the issue and getting the transformation to work at a better pace?