Ministers accused of ‘flip-flopping’ as Heat in Buildings Bill delayed

Scottish Government ministers have been accused of “flip-flopping” on efforts to tackle the climate crisis after it was confirmed a key piece of legislation is being delayed.

Acting Net Zero Secretary Gillian Martin told MSPs she is having to redraft the Government’s Heat in Buildings Bill – and could not say when it will be introduced.

Announced as part of the powersharing agreement between the SNP and Scottish Greens which has since collapsed, the legislation proposed banning the use of “polluting” heating systems such as gas boilers by 2045.

As a “pathway” towards achieving that, the legislation, which had been drawn up by Green co-leader Patrick Harvie when he was a Government minister, set out that people buying a new home before then would have to change their heating system to a greener alternative – such as a heat pump – within a fixed period following the purchase.

The Government launched a consultation on the proposals in November 2023, with legislation originally scheduled to be introduced at Holyrood in November last year.

That failed to happen – with Mr Harvie claiming the Bill was “missing without explanation”.

However Ms Martin said she is redrafting the proposals so they can help cut people’s energy bills as well as carbon emissions.

Speaking in Holyrood, she said: “I’m going to be upfront with people. I’m going to introduce a Heat in Buildings Bill when I can be satisfied those interventions in it will decrease fuel poverty at the same time as decarbonising houses.

“At the moment I do not feel that the drafting that was done, with the greatest respect to Patrick Harvie, takes that significantly into consideration.

“I am going to craft a Bill that is going to simultaneously reduce carbon and tackle fuel poverty, and until I can do that I am afraid there will not be a Bill put forward.”

Campaigners at WWF Scotland said the announcement is “deeply concerning”.

The charity’s climate and energy policy manager, Io Hadjicosta, added it is “yet another case of the Scottish Government flip-flopping when it comes to tackling the climate emergency”.

He said: “Reducing emissions from Scotland’s housing stock by improving insulation and fitting renewable heat pumps would lift people out of fuel poverty – not increase it.

“By delaying the introduction of the Heat in Buildings Bill further, all the Government is doing is condemning the poorest in our society to increasingly high fossil fuel costs and damp, unhealthy homes.”

Lewis Ryder-Jones of Oxfam Scotland also raised concerns, saying: “This legislation was meant to rapidly accelerate energy efficiency in our homes, so putting it on ice is a huge mistake.

“Changing the way we heat our homes is non-negotiable: it’s a future we can’t afford to delay. Putting this Bill into cold storage only makes it harder to ensure the transition is fair for everyone in Scotland.”

Mr Harvie meanwhile insisted the legislation is “essential if Scotland is going to cut carbon emissions and cut people’s energy bills”.

Heating buildings is the third largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland, and while installing devices such as heat pumps can help reduce this, the Green said the sector needs “clarity” from ministers.

He said: “Already, switching to a heat pump can save up to half a household’s heating bills, but people need support to make the switch and the clean heat industry needs clarity from Government.

“That clarity has been completely absent in the year since the Government consulted, and during the unexplained four-month delay to getting the Bill introduced.”

Claiming the SNP has now “basically said to everyone interested in this issue ‘don’t expect much and don’t expect it soon'”, Mr Harvie added this stance “flies in the face of the climate ambitions that this Government is supposed to have”.

He said: “Scotland has already lost heat pump manufacturing jobs, a sector which should be growing not shrinking.

“That is only likely to get worse with this lack of leadership from the Scottish Government.

“This is yet another example of the SNP’s climate delays, which have grown more and more worrying over the last year. It will also delay the huge benefit households would see from ending their reliance on fossil fuels and their volatile prices.”