Seòmar agus comataidhean

More than £175 million has been invested through Warmer Homes Scotland, the Scottish Government’s national fuel poverty scheme since its launch in September 2015, helping over 25,000 households throughout Scotland.

Eligibility for the scheme is based on both the property and the individual meeting the qualifying criteria. Individual eligibility is based on “proxies” - certain benefits which are an indication of the likelihood of the household living in or being at risk of fuel poverty. The eligibility criteria are designed to target support at households who are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of poor energy efficiency and heating systems. This includes those with a long term health condition (as well as carers, older people and families with children under 16 years of age).

During the lifetime of the scheme, the eligibility criteria have been reviewed and amended to manage demand and increase referrals, and in line with policy priorities. Households also move in and out of fuel poverty and the receipt of qualifying benefits.

For these reasons an estimate as outlined is not possible.

The Scottish Government has committed to procuring a new enhanced successor to Warmer Homes Scotland when the current contract expires in June 2023, with a formal procurement process now underway. As outlined within the Fuel Poverty Strategy, working with the Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel, we will seek to ensure the eligibility criteria is aligned with the updated Scottish fuel poverty definition and that assistance continues to be targeted at those who need it most.

The Scottish Government have used the data from the 2019 Scottish House Condition Survey to estimate the likely impact of energy price increases since 2019 on fuel poverty. This has been done by increasing modelled fuel bills in line with increases in the Ofgem price cap for the average dual fuel bill. This was based on an increase of 71% over the weighted average price caps in 2019 of £1,170 to an anticipated price cap of £2,000 in April 2022.

The analysis indicates that between 807,000 (32.3%) and 831,000 households (33.3%) could now be in fuel poverty as a result of the April 2022 price cap.

The analysis accounts for the mitigations announced by the Scottish and UK Governments in response to the April 2022 price cap increase, namely the UK Government’s £200 energy bill rebate and the Scottish Government’s £150 council tax credit for those in council tax bands A to D or in receipt of council tax reduction. The range provided depends on whether the Scottish Government’s £150 council tax credit is treated as a reduction to fuel bills or an increase in incomes, which are calculated differently within the fuel poverty definition.

The Scottish Government has committed to provide at least £465 million of funding over this parliamentary session to support fuel poor households. This figure was set with the aim to provide - at a minimum – a funding level for those in fuel poverty and least able to pay which at least maintains previous levels, with the flexibility to be responsive to the needs of those in fuel poverty so we can mitigate any detrimental impacts of the heat transition on fuel poverty and ensure no-one is left behind.

Our long-standing fuel poverty programmes have already supported over 150,000 households in or at risk of fuel poverty. In 2021-22, we allocated a considerably increased level of funding (£50m) for our Warmer Homes Scotland fuel poverty programme and in 2022-23 will further increase this to £55m. In 2022-23 we will also increase the level of funding individual fuel poor households could benefit from through the £64m local authority-led Area Based Schemes.

The Scottish Government’s investment has also helped to secure Energy Company Obligation (ECO) funding and we would hope to continue to do so. ECO is a UK Government scheme that delivers energy efficiency measures to fuel poor households and is funded by energy suppliers through a levy on energy bills.

Scotland has benefitted from approximately £691 million since the scheme began in 2013. If Scotland maintains its current share of ECO delivery (9%), then we would expect to benefit from a further £360 million over the lifetime of the new ECO4 scheme (from April 2022 to March 2026).

We have not yet calculated the impact of the April 2022 rise of the fuel price cap on the cost of raising households to EPC C.

The Fuel Poverty Strategy Technical Annex ( Supporting documents - Tackling fuel poverty in Scotland: a strategic approach - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) )published in December 2021 sets outs the estimated cost of retrofitting fuel poor households to meet EPC C under different scenarios.

Scottish Government analysis of the impact of the rise in the fuel price cap suggests that the proportion of households in fuel poverty in Scotland could increase to between 807,000 (32.3%) and 831,000 households (33.3%). The higher number of households in fuel poverty would therefore lead to an overall increase in the total cost for these households to reach EPC C.

Scottish Government is in the process of commissioning work which will consider revision to the EPC metrics and which in part will estimate the total cost of raising dwellings’ energy efficiency rating to meet energy efficiency targets.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) is the source of National Statistics on fuel poverty in Scotland. These statistics are normally published annually. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic data collection for the 2020 SHCS survey was suspended as internal inspections of households were not possible. Due to this the key findings from the 2020 SHCS were not published.

Fuel poverty statistics will next be published in the key findings from the 2021 SHCS at the end of 2022 or early 2023.

Our Fuel Poverty Strategy contains a comprehensive range of actions addressing all four drivers of fuel poverty, We will keep progress towards the fuel poverty targets under review and will report every 3 years. If we consider that we need to change our approach to ensure that the targets are met, we will revise the Strategy.

To ensure that we meet our ambitious targets, we will continue to monitor rates of fuel poverty and, working with the independent Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel, we will develop an outcomes framework to assess the impact of our work.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07181 on 24 March 2022. 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 .

The Scottish Government’s Vision for Agriculture, https://www.gov.scot/publications/next-step-delivering-vision-scotland-leader-sustainable-regenerative-farming

was published on 2 March 2022, and outlines our aim to transform how we support farming and food production in Scotland to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

It is a positive vision for Scotland’s agriculture sector and will sit at the heart of a robust and coherent framework to underpin Scotland’s future agriculture support regime from 2025 onwards.

We want to encourage new entrants into the industry, and this Government has arguably invested the most in new entrant support compared to other parts of the UK.

• We added provision to allocate direct payments to new entrants and young farmers in excess of £7.2m;
• Our start-up provision alone under the SRDP totalled nearly £13m;
• Under the FONE group we have helped facilitate entry to 76 new entrants by providing 112 land opportunities across 7,070 hectares of land;
• And in conjunction with the NFUS, the Scottish Land Matching Service has got off to a very promising start despite the impact of Covid.

Women living and working in Scottish agriculture are an essential part of the rural economy. We have committed £300,000 this Financial Year, rising to £600,000 during the lifetime of this Parliament, to bring about practical solutions to support women, including: mainstreaming of Be Your Best Self, a personal development training programme; a project to test innovative solutions for childcare in rural areas; and the development of Skillseeder – a skills sharing app to encourage greater participation in rural and land-based training. We’ve also established the WIA Practical Training Fund, administered by Lantra Scotland. We will continue to embed and normalise equalities considerations in all future agricultural scheme development, and work with the industry to support equalities within organisations and boards.

Work is also ongoing, to develop the National Test Programme, which begins this Spring and, over the next three years will deliver Scottish Government investment of up to £51 million. It is based on and informed by the work and recommendations of the Farmer-led Groups, particularly to ensure we are beginning to tackle the most urgent needs and creating a base upon which to build a whole-farm low carbon approach. An outline of the National Test Programme has already been published: https://www.gov.scot/news/ambitious-future-for-rural-scotland/

The Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) opened for funding in 2022 to support the ambition of doubling the amount of land under organic management, set out in the Programme for Government 2021-22. We are committed to seeing more organic farming and organic produce for sale in Scotland, and working with the sector to establish a new Organic Food and Farming Action Plan. http://www.gov.scot/news/creating-a-fairer-greener-nation

The Sustainable Agricultural Capital Grant Scheme 2022 which is part of the wider agricultural transformation intentions, will be focussed on support for low emission slurry spreading equipment and slurry store covers which will help farmers, crofters and agricultural contractors comply with new regulatory requirements; reducing harmful ammonia emissions and adverse impacts on water quality resulting from the storage and spreading of livestock slurry and digestate.

https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/sustainable-agriculture-capital-grant-scheme--sacgs-/

Proposals for future agricultural support will be co-developed with rural partners through the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB) and with wider civil society through a consultation in summer 2022 to inform the introduction of a Scottish Agriculture Bill in 2023.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07181 on 24 March 2022. 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07181 on 24 March 2022. 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 .