Home Energy Scotland/Energy Saving Trust grant and loan data: EIR release

Information requested

To compare the BUS scheme with the HES/EST process, can I make a freedom of information request for the last 2 financial years to show:

• The number of people in Scotland who applied for a HES/EST grant and loan
• The number of customers who completed and were paid out
• The average value/amount of interest free loan taken over the £7,500 grant
• The average value/amount of interest free loan taken over the £9,000 grant
• The amount spent on advertising
• The amount spent to run HES and EST in Scotland

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Response to your request

In order to provide relevant answers to allow comparison with the UK Government Boiler Upgrade Scheme, we have interpreted your request as covering Scottish Government grant and loan funding for heat pumps targeted at owner occupiers only for the first 4 parts of your request.

As a result, all other measures funded through the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan Scheme (HESGL) and predecessor Home Energy Scotland Loan and Cashback Scheme (HESLC) have been excluded.

However, with respect to the 5th and 6th parts of your request, we have interpreted ‘HES’ as meaning both the Home Energy Scotland Advice Service and EST’s administration of Home Energy Scotland Heat and Energy Efficiency grant and loan schemes on behalf of the Scottish Government.

Within the context of these interpretations, the answer to your questions listed in your EIR request are as follows:

1. The number of people in Scotland who applied for a HES/EST grant and loan

Table 1 shows the number of applications that included heat pump funding in financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24 for the HESLC scheme or the successor HESGL scheme which was introduced in December 2022.

Table 1: Number of HESLC/HESGL Applications Received for Heat Pump Funding

Requested Information	2022-23	2023-24
No. of Applications Received (Heat Pumps)	2,543	3,106

2. The number of customers who completed and were paid out:

Table 2 shows the number of applications which included a heat pump where funding was paid in full either through the HESLC scheme or successor HESGL scheme in financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Table 2: Number of HESLC/HESGL Applications Paid in Full for Heat Pump Funding

Requested Information	2022-23	2023-24
No. of Applications Paid (Heat Pumps)	1,803	2,225

Please note that there is no direct correlation between the figures set out in table 2 and those set out in table 1. This is because applicants a have set period of time to complete work and submit their claim (currently 9 months for HESGL). This means that payment in full may not take place in the same financial year the application was received.

3. The average value/amount of interest free loan taken over the £7,500 grant
4. The average value/amount of interest free loan taken over the £9,000 grant

Tables 3 and 4 shows the average interest free loan value for heat pumps under the HESGL scheme since December 2022.

Average interest free loan figures for the historic HESLC scheme have been excluded as this did not include a rural uplift grant and would not support a comparison between loan values.

Table 3: Average Interest Free Loan for a Heat Pump (HESGL Scheme) where a heat pump grant excluded a rural uplift

Requested Information	2022/23 (Dec 22 – Mar 23)	2023/24
Average loan value (Heat Pumps)	£ 4,076	£ 5,993

Table 4: Average Interest Free Loan for a Heat Pump (HESGL Scheme) where a heat pump grant included a rural uplift

HES applications - heat pumps	2022/23 (Dec 22 – Mar 23)	2023/24
Average loan value (Heat Pumps)	n/a	£ 5,807

5. The amount spent on advertising

The Scottish Government has not directly marketed the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme, but does undertake marketing which directs consumers to Home Energy Scotland as the gateway to a wide range of advice and financial support in relation to home energy. Table 5a shows the amount the Scottish Government spent on relevant marketing for financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Table 5a Scottish Government Marketing Related Spend

Requested Information	2022-23	2023-24
Marketing Spend - Scottish Government	£ 723,237	£ 550,667.49

Table 5b shows the amount of EST’s annual grant from Scottish Government that was allocated for PR and marketing activity in financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24. This spend relates to a number of activities intended to promote and inform the public about the HES advices services and support available.

Table 5b: EST Grant Funded Marketing Spend

Requested Information	2022-23	2023-24
Marketing Spend - EST Grant Funding	£ 181,936	£ 174,789

6. The amount spent to run HES and EST in Scotland

Table 6a shows the amount allocated to fund the HES Advice Services in full for financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24 in respect of their annual workplan.

Table 6a: EST Grant Allocation for Home Energy Scotland Advice Services

Requested Information	2022-23	2023-24
Amount Spent – HES Advice Services	£12.3m	£13.5m

Table 6b shows the amount paid to EST in financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24 (up to 30 November 2024) for the administration and management of a suite of live and closed Heat in Buildings (HiB) grant and loan schemes, one of which is the HESGL scheme. This also includes two emergency housing loan schemes but excludes transport related schemes funded by Transport Scotland.

​​​​​​​Table 6b: Total Amount Paid to EST in relation to the Management of Heat and Energy Efficiency Loan and Grant Schemes Contract

Requested Information	2022-23	2023-24 (1 April 2023 – 30 Nov 2023)
Amount Paid (Management of Energy Efficiency Loan and Grant Schemes Contract)	£1.6m	£1.7m

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exception(s) under regulation(s) Regulation 10(5)(e) - Confidentiality of commercial or industrial information of the EIRs applies to that information.

The information we are unable to provide relates to the amount paid to EST in for the management of Heat and Energy Efficiency schemes from December 2023. The reasons why that exception(s) applies are explained in the Annex to this letter. Publicly available information regarding this contract can be found on the Public Contracts Scotland website. To aid you in obtaining the available contract information please see below the required information for the website search facility:

Keyword – Loan
Buyer Name – Scottish Government
Notice Type – contract Result
Include archived contracts? – Tick this box

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

EIR 202400442664 - Information released - Annex

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