Home Energy Scotland waiting times must be improved
A Freedom of Information request by the Scottish Liberal Democrats has revealed relatively few heat pumps have been installed through the programme.
The Home Energy Scotland Scheme offers grants up to £7,500 and interest free loans to help with the installation of heat pump technology.
However, despite its flagship status within the country’s energy transition plans, new data has shown installations are well behind where Holyrood had hoped. Just 2,085 units were fitted over the past 12 months.
‘Here in Scotland, housing is one of our biggest sources of emissions because it is cold, leaking and relies on fossil fuels,’ said Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie. ‘If Scotland is to bring down its emissions, we need to find greener ways to heat our homes and ways to make them more energy efficient. Switching to green heating systems can be a win-win, cutting emissions and bringing down bills.’
By comparison the UK Government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme has been issuing more than 2,000 grants each month, with experts pointing to the Scottish scheme’s complexity as a major problem. Consumers and businesses alike have been struggling to access the support necessary to understand their eligibility for decarbonisation programmes, slowing progress down.
‘The Home Energy Scotland scheme has been launched to help reduce fuel poverty and tackle the climate emergency. These are serious issues that require urgent action from the government,’ said Nicola Mahmood, Head of Region (Scotland) for heat pump giant, Aira UK.
‘The low number of grants does not reflect the level of interest we are experiencing for heat pumps, they reflect the long and complex bureaucratic burden the government has placed on consumers and businesses who are interested in accessing the support available to help Scots decarbonise their homes,’ she continued. ‘Nearly 90% of our customers are experiencing long delays in accessing their grants, in the future consumers and businesses need the government to give us a clear timeline for when the grants will be paid. I’m afraid the current waiting times are unacceptable.’
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Image: Paul Chambers