Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme official decision document: EIR release
Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
Information requested
The official decision document detailing what is included in the scheme…I specifically request an official document outlining the decision made by the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliament, duly signed by the appropriate authorities.
Response
The HES Grant and Loan Scheme was developed as an update to the HES Loan and Cashback Scheme with the design of the scheme, including the measures offered, being agreed upon and signed off by the Minister of Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights.
This sign off has been previously released through a separate EIR regarding air to air heat pumps and is publicly available. This response can be accessed here.
Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.
After Ministerial sign off, Scottish Government officials worked with Energy Saving Trust (EST) to implement and launch the updated scheme. I have attached the following documents from this process with EST that are within the scope of your request.
Document 1 contains an email chain showing a Scottish Government official approving a spreadsheet containing the measures and amount of funding to be available through the HES Grant and Loan Scheme ahead of its launch. This spreadsheet was used when creating finalised documents, such as the terms and conditions. I have attached the spreadsheet that was included in this email for your reference, this is Document 1.1.
Document 2 contains an email with the final terms and conditions for the scheme, ahead of its launch. I have attached the terms and conditions that was included in this email for your reference, this is Document 2.1.
These terms and conditions indicate the conditions of the HES Grant and Loan Scheme on its launch, including the measures offered through the scheme. I would highlight, in particular, the section titled ‘Air to water, ground to water and water to water heat pumps’ which states that air to air heat pumps are not funded through the scheme. This section starts on page 18.
Redactions
An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.
Information which falls under this exception in the attached documents has been redacted.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
There is a problem
Thanks for your feedback