Just a third of councils met deadline for publishing local heat and energy efficiency strategies

Scottish Liberal Democrat climate emergency spokesperson Liam McArthur has today urged ministers to work with local authorities to ensure they have a local heat and energy efficiency strategy in place. It follows confirmation that only a third of councils published strategies ahead of the 31 December 2023 deadline and a third still have no strategies in place.

Responding to a parliamentary question from Mr McArthur, minister Patrick Harvie confirmed only 11 councils published on time. Two more were published in the first three months of 2024, with a further nine expected by the end of March.

Mr Harvie said that the reasons behind the delays were that local authorities had faced “a number of challenges that have hindered their ability to meet the deadline, including recruiting staff, procuring technical consultants, the timing of governance processes, data access and timescales for stakeholder engagement”

Commenting on the delays, Liam McArthur said:

“Setting out how local authorities will improve local heat and energy efficiency is a big challenge but one that needs to be met if Scotland is going to drive down emissions.

“In March, the Climate Change Committee found that there is credible route to Scotland reducing its emissions by 75% by 2030. The report also noted that there was no comprehensive strategy for Scotland to decarbonise towards Net Zero and that Scotland has missed its annual targets eight times in the past 12 years. Rather than heed this warning and redouble their efforts the SNP and Scottish Greens decided to axe the target entirely.

“Scotland is off course by a country mile on heat pumps, electric vehicles, recycling and more.

“Ministers must help local authorities deliver not only these plans but the actions required to implement them.”