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The Scottish Government already provides funding to support energy efficiency works which contribute to our net zero target. Between 2018 and 2021, £7 million was made available to Local Authority and registered social landlords through the Energy Efficient Scotland Transition Programme’s Decarbonisation Fund to assist in compliance with the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing.

The Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund, which launched in August 2020, has been designed to accelerate the delivery of energy efficiency measures and zero emissions heating systems in social housing across Scotland. It will make at least £200 million available to registered social landlords until 2026.

Acknowledging that the public sector alone cannot bear the long-term cost of converting homes, the Green Heat Finance Taskforce has been established to assess and recommend ways the public sector, communities and private finance can collaborate to scale up investment. A dedicated sub-group has been established to consider the best routes to financing and funding the retrofit of the existing social housing stock.

The first meeting of the stakeholder review of the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing post-2020 took place on 5 September 2022. We expect the Review Group to conclude by mid-2023.

We wish to see a sustainable future for the Scottish steel sector, building on the long and proud heritage of steelwork in Scotland. We can see real opportunities for the steel sector in the move to a net zero economy, with Zero Waste Scotland commissioning a series of reports looking at the circular opportunities for the energy transition in Scotland to help inform efforts in this area.

The Scottish Government is determined to maximise the economic opportunity for the Scottish supply chain from our offshore wind potential. That is why we asked Crown Estate Scotland to introduce the Supply Chain Development Statement as part of the ScotWind leasing round to demonstrate how serious the Scottish Government is about holding developers to account if they do not honour their supply chain commitments and create green jobs.

We welcome the valuable input from the First Minister's Environment Council, which we will take into account as part of wider policy development, for example work to develop Scotland's battery technology supply chain.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12054 on 17 November 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

Twenty seven organisations applied for funding from the Ayrshire Rural and Islands Ambition (ARIA) Fund. There were no direct applications from the Local Authorities.

On behalf of the Scottish Government, Element Energy conducted analysis of the technical suitability of low-carbon heating technologies in Scottish domestic buildings, which included Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs) in off-gas areas. A copy of this report is available below.

Scottish Government (2020). Technical Feasibility of Low Carbon Heating in Domestic Buildings. URL: https://www.gov.scot/publications/technical-feasibility-low-carbon-heating-domestic-buildings-report-scottish-governments-directorate-energy-climate-change/

The research concluded that, where homes were able to adopt the energy efficiency improvements required to reach EPC C, the number technically unsuitable for an ASHP would sit around 39,500 and 40,400. This is out of a total of around 170,000 off-gas-grid homes using high-emissions fuels. The underlying data is not published. For the minority of properties where ASHPs may not be viable, alternative options under current technology include air-to-air heat pumps, other electric heating or bioenergy from sustainable sources. We continue to review which technologies may be considered as zero direct emissions.

It is currently the intention to regulate to prohibit direct emissions heating (DEH) systems being installed in new buildings applying for a building warrant from 1 April 2024 through amendments to the Building Regulations. Therefore, enforcement/penalties would be through the existing legislative framework.

As all new buildings require a building warrant prior to construction, the absence of a direct emission heating system will be demonstrated to the local authority verifier as part of that process and also confirmed on completion of building works.

Enforcement of any subsequent non-compliance with building regulations is the responsibility of the local authority in the area the building is sited.

The New Build Heat Standard (NBHS) is our proposed new standard that will prohibit the use of direct emissions heating systems (DEH) in new builds warranted from 1 April 2024.

Independent analysis of the responses received to the recently closed Part II New Build Heat Standard consultation is currently underway.

As part of this consultation process, the Scottish Government sought evidence on whether there any limited, specific situations where the use of direct emissions heating systems would be required in new buildings.

We will publish our report into the consultation prior to bringing forward the regulations.

The Scottish Government intends the New Build Heat Standard to apply to all new buildings, applying for a building warrant, from 1 April 2024 onwards.

This is in direct response to the recommendation of the Committee on Climate Change on how to meet the net zero legal obligations legislated for by the Scottish Parliament.

The timescale reflects the need to act to reduce the emissions associated with heating our homes and businesses, and the introduction of the New Build Heat Standard will ensure that these buildings are future-proofed - avoiding any potentially disruptive retrofit works as we progress towards the decarbonisation of our remaining building stock in line with our Heat in Buildings Strategy.