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Home Insulation Scheme (HIS) assessors are due to begin visits to every house in a HIS area in early November, with the exception of those households who have previously responded by other means such as in response to a direct mailing. It is not possible at this stage to accurately estimate the number of visits which will be made by the end of 2009. Our planning and funding framework is based on financial years, i.e. 2009-10 for the first phase. When HIS is underway and data is collected for monitoring and evaluation purposes it will be possible to provide more informed estimates.

The first insulation installations under the Home Insulation Scheme are expected to be carried out in early December 2009.

Contributions to the Home Insulation Scheme, which will be in addition to the £15 million allocated by the Scottish Government, will be delivered mainly from Carbon Emissions Reduction Target activity and owner contributions. The amount of investment contributed from these sources will depend on factors such as the uptake of measures under the first phase of the scheme, which will cover around 100,000 homes.

Complementary investment will also be provided from local councils and other local partners in the selected areas. Complementary investment from some of the local councils selected for the first phase of the Home Insulation Scheme is subject to final confirmation and approval. However, at this stage, our provisional estimate is that in the region of £750,000 of complementary investment will be contributed from local agencies.

In the Scottish Government''s draft budget for 2010-11, published on 7 September, £15 million has been allocated to the Home Insulation Scheme in 2010-11.

Door-step assessments in Home Insulation Scheme (HIS) areas will seek to identify households vulnerable to fuel poverty to enable them to be referred to appropriate services such as provision of benefit advice, social tariff checks and insulation measures. Information on the number of households identified as vulnerable to fuel poverty and those referred to, and subsequently receiving services will be available when HIS is underway and data is collected for monitoring purposes. The evaluation process for HIS will then be able to use this information to assess the impact of the scheme on fuel poverty.

The Scottish Government has made an initial estimate that the Home Insulation Scheme could save in the region of 24,250 tCO2e in 2009-10. The actual emission savings achieved will depend on a range of factors including levels of uptake by householders. The implementation of the first phase of the Home Insulation Scheme will be evaluated with a view to informing its development in subsequent years. The emission savings achieved will be calculated within the framework for standard carbon assessment being developed by the Scottish Government.

If the tenant of a private landlord is within a priority group under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target scheme then no client contribution is required. The anticipation is that private landlords will normally pay any financial contribution towards the cost of insulation measures in cases where such a contribution is required. However, the tenant would be given the option to pay this contribution if the landlord refused to do so.

At this stage, it is not possible to estimate how many households will have insulation measures installed under the Home Insulation Scheme (HIS) that will be fully paid for. When HIS is fully underway and data is being collected for monitoring and evaluation purposes it will be possible to provide more informed estimates.

All households within Home Insulation Scheme (HIS) areas are eligible to receive insulation measures either free, or at a reduced cost compared to the normal market cost of installation, providing that their house is suitable for the relevant measure. While able-to-pay households will receive insulation at reduced cost, they will be required to make a financial contribution to the costs of installation, if they wish to receive the measures.

At this stage, it is not possible to estimate how many households will be eligible to receive reduced-cost insulation measures under HIS in the areas selected for 2009-10, as opposed to those eligible for free measures, and what proportion of households in those areas each group represents. Eligibility for free measures is determined both by ability of a property to take HIS measures and the socio-economic status of the householder. When HIS is fully underway and data is being collected for monitoring and evaluation purposes it will be possible to provide more informed estimates.

We welcome the UK Government''s ambition to insulate all cavities and lofts by 2015 (which was reaffirmed in its UK Low Carbon Transition), and indicated that we believe this will not be met in Scotland unless changes are made to the framework for the delivery of the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) and the obligation that supersedes it. The Home Insulation Scheme will contribute towards this ambition, but the degree to which it can be achieved will partly depend on decisions made around the future of CERT.