3. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice has had with ministerial colleagues regarding how to improve access to energy-efficient housing in rural communities. (S6O-02698)

Ministers routinely discuss cross-portfolio matters. The Scottish Government’s ambition is for everyone to have access to a warm, safe, affordable and energy-efficient home that meets their needs. That is why we have committed to delivering 110,000 high-quality and energy-efficient affordable homes by 2032, 10 per cent of which will be in rural and island areas to help to retain and attract people to those communities. That is on top of the additional funding that we provide in rural areas for social landlords and home owners to improve the energy efficiency of existing homes.

The energy efficiency supply chain is critical to supporting the provision of homes and upgrades, but there is a bottleneck in the ability of small businesses to host apprenticeships, which feeds through to the workforce—for example, more meter engineers are needed locally to work through a backlog of repair work. Will the Minister look at how funding and administrative support can be targeted at local businesses, perhaps through Skills Development Scotland, to support capacity for more apprenticeships in the sector?

We are active in that area. In concert with industry voices, we have worked on the heat in buildings supply chain delivery plan and, in joint discussions with Graeme Dey, I am taking forward work on the skills and education side of things. It might be helpful if I were to give an update as part of my statement to the chamber when we launch the heat in buildings consultation.

Some of my constituents who live in Ratho, Bonnington Cottages, Hermiston village and Blinkbonny need support for energy efficiency and decarbonisation improvements. Many people are unaware that Home Energy Scotland’s grant and loan scheme offers a rural uplift. What work is the Scottish Government doing to ensure that rural households are aware of all the home energy funding opportunities that are available to them?

We run a regular nationwide marketing campaign to promote the support that is available. I encourage anyone who is interested in making energy efficiency or heating improvements to their home, whether they are in a rural or an urban area, to contact Home Energy Scotland for advice and support. It has a website that highlights the support that is on offer, and its network of regional advice centres allows us to maximise and tap into local promotional opportunities, including outreach and training sessions. We keep our approach to engagement and awareness raising under review, and we are keen to work with rural stakeholders to continue to increase awareness of the support that is on offer.