2. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to a recent report by Changeworks, which found that homes in rural areas have a lower energy performance certificate rating than the rest of Scotland. (S6O-02277)

I thank Changeworks for its work in that area and for bringing forward that important report.

The average energy performance certificate rating of rural properties is lower than that of those in urban areas because of the typically more expensive fuels that are used or available, how those are reflected in the current EPC metric, and the historically lower energy efficiency standards.

We propose that all housing in Scotland meet the equivalent of EPC rating C by 2033 and that we revise EPC metrics. We offer support to improve the energy efficiency of rural homes, including a funding uplift to our home energy Scotland grant and loan scheme, and targeted fuel poverty support.

The minister knows that improving energy efficiency in rural and off-grid homes is absolutely critical for reducing energy bills and meeting net zero targets, but as the Changeworks report makes very clear, the Scottish National Party’s heat-pump approach does not suit many of the older properties in the rural economy. What is the SNP doing to encourage investment in alternative heating solutions, such as biofuel liquefied natural gas?

We are working on policy on biofuels in line with the United Kingdom Climate Change Committee’s recommendations, which see something of a role but recognise that there will be limits to the role of bioenergy in the heating system.

Meanwhile, as I said in my first answer, we provide an uplift of the grant and loan schemes for rural areas. In particular, we need to ensure that we invest in skills and capacity in the industry. To give just one example, we have invested in a mobile training centre for heat-pump installation, which is hosted by South Lanarkshire College, but is available to any college in Scotland for training in rural areas on site. That will help to ensure that local communities have access to skilled professionals who are able to assess and install heat pumps in all types of buildings.

Last April, the Scottish Government estimated that more than 874,000 households were in fuel poverty in Scotland, but its insulation and energy efficiency scheme has now closed to applications until October. At the current rate of progress, it would take 165 years to insulate every fuel-poor household in Scotland, so can the Scottish Government explain what has gone wrong?

Something has gone very right, in that we are replacing that scheme with a much-improved successor. While that transition happens, new referrals will be referred to the provider under the terms of the successor scheme, rather than the less generous terms of the previous scheme.

Beatrice Wishart and other constituency and regional members who represent rural and island communities have repeatedly expressed their concerns, but the Scottish Government’s heat in buildings programme is the most ambitious of such programmes in any part of these islands and is looking to achieve investment in a sustainable and equitable system that insulates people from fuel poverty and is comparable to the best achievements in other countries in Europe in previous decades.