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The Scottish Government is committed to decarbonising Scotland’s buildings in line with our climate targets for net zero by 2045. We recognise it may be more challenging for some traditionally built homes and buildings to meet any energy efficiency and heating standard we propose, especially those granted listed status.

This is why officials have met with a variety of organisations with an interest in the retrofit of traditional and protected buildings. These include Historic Environment Scotland, Built Environment Forum Scotland, Under One Roof, Federation of Master Builders, and Historic Houses. The workshop on Traditional and Protected buildings, undertaken by the Tenements Short Life Working Group in October 2022 was attended by a range of stakeholders, including Changeworks, Church of Scotland, Local Energy Scotland, MAST Architects, National Trust for Scotland, Royal Incorporation of Architects Scotland (RIAS), and South Seeds.

Officials plan to continue engagement with key stakeholders alongside the planned consultation on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill. This engagement will be vital in helping us develop cost-effective and technically feasible solutions to improve the energy efficiency and transition Scotland’s traditional and listed buildings to climate-friendly heating. We are committed to ensuring that we do this while respecting and preserving the special characteristics of our buildings and places and considering the health and wellbeing of Scotland’s people.

The Energy Saving Trust, an advice service funded by the Scottish Government, has gathered case study data from 85 pre-1919 properties across Scotland that have gone through various degrees of retrofit and the installation of modern energy efficiency measures and clean heating systems. These can be found at: Energy Saving Trust | Green Homes Network . Learning from these case studies will further help us develop policy and highlight areas where further research is required. The Scottish Government has also recently published research looking at different options for conducting whole building assessments in multi-owner and mixed-use buildings as current building assessment methods in Scotland are used for single dwellings and not at a whole building level. A proportion of these buildings will be of traditional construction. The research can be found at Whole Building Assessment for energy efficiency and zero direct emissions heating .

Officials will identify what further research may be required through engagement during the consultation on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill.

Police Scotland consider they would be able to effectively police the proposed site in Glasgow. Police Scotland have operational independence and how any facility might be policed is a matter for them, however it has been of the utmost importance to me to ensure that Police Scotland retain the operational ability to effectively police the facility and ensure that the wider community, those operating the site and those using the facility can be kept safe.

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is the lead public body on the investigation of, care for and promotion of Scotland's historic environment. HES published retrofit guidance for traditional buildings in November 2021 at Guide to Energy Retrofit of Traditional Buildings | Hist Env Scotland (historicenvironment.scot) . The Scottish Government values their technical expertise and regularly relies on their work and input to help define the approach to retrofitting traditional and listed buildings.

For example, following a series of stakeholder workshops held in 2021, an expert Tenements Short Life Working Group was formed. A specific workshop looking at traditional and protected buildings was undertaken as part of this process and Historic Environment Scotland were a key participant in this group A. The Final Report and Recommendations of the Tenements Short Life Working Group will be published shortly.

We are committed to continuing to work closely with HES to shape our future proposals on a Heat in Buildings Standard to ensure the best outcome for traditional and protected homes and buildings and the people who live and use them.

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) are in the process of undertaking a policy review on whether home slaughter by an itinerant slaughterer for the purposes of private domestic consumption could be undertaken legally under current food hygiene legislation. Subject to the outcome of this policy review, FSS may consult with relevant stakeholders on next steps in due course.  

Under any revised home slaughter policy, it would not be possible for the meat from home slaughtered animals to enter into the food chain, as this is not permitted under existing food hygiene legislation. Only meat that has been slaughtered in an approved slaughterhouse can be legally placed on the market. There are currently no plans, therefore, to trial the use of itinerant slaughterers on island communities to produce meat that can be placed on the market.

The pandemic and the subsequent pressures on the court system and justice partners arising from the backlog of cases it created, has impacted on the implementation timetable for the Vulnerable Witnesses (Criminal Evidence) (Scotland) Act 2019. We are working with partners and stakeholders through a cross sector implementation group to update the implementation plan and have committed to publish by the end of March 2024.

It is important that we take the time to work closely with industry, with investors and with our partners across the public and private sectors to ensure that we get our approach to this right. This process is already well-underway and will update the market once it has been completed.

Delivery of the £500 million Just Transition Fund remains ongoing with £75 million allocated to date, supporting projects and communities across the North East and Moray to create jobs, support innovation, and secure the highly skilled workforce of the future.

While bedbug bites can be itchy they do not constitute a public health hazard. Local authority environmental health departments are responsible for their own pest control and advice services. General prevention advice for anyone who suspects an infestation can be found by contacting the relevant local authority.

The NHS UK website contains useful information on bed bugs, including self-care advice, and can be found at Bedbugs - NHS (www.nhs.uk) .

There will be an extensive programme of consultation as the Green Industrial Strategy is developed in line with our commitments within the New Deal for Business. We have already engaged with a number of organisations including Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC), Confederation of British Industry (CBI Scotland), Scottish Council for Development & Industry (SCDI), Federation of Small Business (FSB), Institute of Directors (IoD) and Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE). We will continue to engage with stakeholders through our New Deal for Business Group and other mechanisms in order to shape the strategy.

We are working closely our partners in the Enterprise Agencies and the Scottish National Investment Bank to develop an approach that will allow us to respond at pace to market needs. We will provide more detail to the market in due course.