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The Scottish Government is introducing the New Build Heat Standard from 2024 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 Scottish Government has previously commissioned research which considered the capital costs associated with delivering zero direct emissions heating (ZDEH) technologies within new homes.

The research found that the installation of ZDEH systems ranged from £2,000 to £5,000 more than compared to a gas boiler counterfactual. However, these costs are highly variable and depend on a range of factors from the choice of system used to the nature of the construction of the individual development. It is also expected that both innovation and economies of scale will reduce the price of ZDEH systems as Scotland and many other countries increase their deployment.

Conversely, in off-gas areas, the capital costs of ZDEH systems were found to be comparable with fossil fuel alternatives (such as oil boilers).

Copies of the research papers are available here:

• Renewable and zero emissions heating systems in affordable housing projects: evaluation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
• Costs of zero emissions heating in new buildings (climatexchange.org.uk)

At the introduction of these regulations, a full Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) will be published – and the findings from these research reports and other relevant information will be incorporated into the final BRIA.

The sale price of a new building is a matter that is determined by each individual developer and takes into account a range of variables related to the cost of construction of the building and the local housing market.

Security of electricity supply is a reserved policy area, delivered through UK Government electricity policy, Ofgem as the independent GB energy regulator, and National Grid ESO (the GB Electricity System Operator).

A mixture of renewables, storage and increased interconnection across GB and to the continent – as well as a potential role for carbon capture in some scenarios – can support a secure and decarbonised power sector in Scotland.

The regulation and funding of electricity networks are reserved to the UK Government. However, we are engaging closely with Ofgem and BEIS to ensure that its policy and regulation recognises and enables Scotland’s world leading net zero target, and this includes our plans for heat decarbonisation.

The Scottish Government has also worked closely with network companies to ensure their business plans reflect the scale and pace of low carbon technology deployment required to meet net zero targets. We have also set up a new Heat Electrification Strategic Partnership (HESP) with them as a forum within which to further develop our understanding of the scale, pace and location of network investment needed.

Ofgem’s draft determinations on these plans have proposed a combined allowance of £2.5bn for both Scottish Network companies with additional allowance being made available, should the rate of deployment be higher than anticipated.

The Scottish Government is introducing the New Build Heat Standard from 2024 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.

Within the 2019 UK housing: Fit for the future? publication, the Committee on Climate Change recommended that “from 2025 at the latest, no new homes should be connected to the gas grid. They should instead be heated through low carbon sources”. A copy of this report can be found here: UK housing: Fit for the future? - Climate Change Committee (theccc.org.uk)

In a subsequent letter to the UK Government , the CCC recommended that: “The full definition of the Future Homes Standard should be set now and legislated ahead of 2024 to give market certainty. Waiting until 2024 to legislate is likely to drive up compliance costs in the long run, given the history of the cancelled Zero Carbon Homes policy which left many investments stranded and weakened industry confidence. We also urge you to consider bringing forward the 2025 introduction date - we note that Scotland are due to introduce equivalent standards a year earlier.”

We initially announced our intention to regulate new build heating systems in September 2019, five years in advance of the regulations coming into force, and we are actively working with the construction sector to inform the development of these new regulations – including through establishment of an external working group, membership of which includes trade bodies representing Scottish and UK house builders.

That five year prior notification has given the construction sector significant time in which to plan for these new regulations coming into force. It is longer than the three year duration of a building warrant - meaning that no builder could have pre-ordered fossil fuel heating for an active or planned building warrant without being aware of the proposed prohibition on fossil fuel heating systems in new buildings applying from 2024.

The Scottish Government is currently consulting on its final proposals for the New Build Heat Standard. This consultation will inform the final regulations which are expected to be laid during 2023 before coming into force in April 2024. Alongside those regulations we will publish a Business Regulatory Impact Assessment. This will set out estimated costs and benefits of the approach, including emissions reductions.

Table 1 shows the number of new build completions in Scotland fitted with zero emissions heating systems in the period 2016 to 2021. This includes all homes using electricity, biomass or connected to a community heating system as their main heating fuel type.

The answer to your question is outlined in the following tables. Please note, data for 2021-2022 Area Based Schemes are still being collected and will be published on the ABS webpage in due course: Area Based Schemes: annual final measures reports - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

“Zero Carbon” heating for the purposes of this response is defined as heating which does not generate carbon emissions at the point of use. Solar and battery storage are not counted towards the Zero Carbon figure as they are usually installed in conjunction with other microgeneration measures, for example air source heat pumps.

Warmer Homes Scotland

Year Six of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund is ready to commence in line with the new 2022-23 academic year.

An evaluation of FWDF is near completion and we expect to publish the report in the coming weeks. In advance of this, minor changes are being made to standardise the offer to organisations this year, with further changes to be considered on completion of the evaluation process. We will consult stakeholders and align any further changes with the strategic lifetime skills commitments outlined in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

In Year Four changes were made to FWDF which made support available to non-UK Apprenticeship Levy paying small and medium enterprises via colleges or the Open University in Scotland (OUiS). At the same time, Levy paying organisations only were able for the first time to access non-college based skills support from other training providers via a Skills Development Scotland grant scheme, but they did not have access to the OUiS option.

In Year Six, all companies will, for the first time, be able to access upskilling support via Scotland’s colleges, OUiS, and the Skills Development Scotland grant offer on a first come, first served basis.

Levy payers will continue to be able to access support up to a value of £15,000 and non-Levy paying SMEs up to £5,000.

All NHS Scotland Boards are providing assessment and support for people with long COVID. This is being delivered across the full range of services delivered by our NHS and includes local primary care teams, community based rehabilitation services and referrals for further investigation delivered in secondary care settings where clinically appropriate.

It is for each NHS Board to develop and deliver the best models of care for assessment, diagnostic tests, and support for the treatment or management of symptoms, tailored to the needs of their local population. This will involve strengthening the co-ordination of existing services, or establishing dedicated services where appropriate.

To support this, we are investing an initial £3 million from our long COVID Support Fund over this financial year to provide NHS Boards and partners with additional resource to respond to the needs of people with long COVID in their areas. While none of the services being delivered by NHS Scotland Boards are termed ‘long COVID clinics’, initiatives being supported by the funding include key elements of care that is also offered by post COVID assessment clinics elsewhere in the UK; such as the introduction of care co-ordinator roles to provide a single point of contact for people with long COVID and their families and the introduction of a multi-disciplinary assessment service to provide a person-centred assessment of people’s needs.

In recognition of the particular challenges the North East has faced as result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the downturn in oil and gas, we have allocated £14.3m to the North East Economic Recovery and Skills Fund, which offers over 3,000 training opportunities in addition to supporting hundreds of local businesses at a critical time for the local economy. We have worked closely with local partners to develop proposals aligned to the City Region economic priorities of diversification and net zero transition, including local authorities, Skills Development Scotland, Opportunity North East, Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Funding Council and local universities.

This programme aligns with existing nationwide upskilling and reskilling programmes of support for colleges and universities as we work towards a just transition, including the Young Person’s Guarantee, the National Transition Training Fund, the Flexible Workforce Development Fund and the Green Jobs Workforce Academy.

In 2022-23, we are also progressing key actions from the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP) focused on inspiring and empowering young people; supporting upskilling to meet emerging green jobs requirements; aligning work-based learning, Further and Higher Education provision to meet the needs of the net zero transition; facilitating behaviour change and helping employers capitalise on opportunities, and driving change in the skills system. The CESAP is being driven forward by an Implementation Steering Group comprised of central and local government and its agencies, education and skills providers, industry and independent experts.