Warmer Homes Scotland: annual review 2017 to 2018

Appendix 1: Warmer Homes Scotland Annual Review 2017/18 Terms of Reference

Directorate for Housing and Social Justice
Better Homes Division

Warmer Homes Scotland
Review of 2017/18
Terms of Reference

1. Document Control

1.1 Revision History

Version: 0.1
Status: Draft
Date: 21/03/18
Author/Modifier: Moira Parker
Description: Initial draft TOR for internal review

1.2 Document Approval

Name: Warmer Homes Scotland Strategic Board
Role: To oversee the progress of Warmer Homes Scotland in meeting it's stated objectives.
Date Signed Off: 20/04/2018

2. Terms of Reference Introduction

Purpose:

To review the strategic and operational delivery of Warmer Homes Scotland during the 2017/18 financial year and determine whether or not it is meeting its stated objectives.

Usage:

This document is to be used to define the objectives, scope and approach of the review and as the basis for a more detailed specification to be developed.

Process:

The TOR should be agreed before any detailed design, development, test or implementation takes place.

The TOR should be approved by the HEEPS Delivery Board. The Board will ensure the TOR is fit for purpose and clearly sets out the requirements of the review.

If all parties are happy to proceed, the review will be approved and scheduled. Notification of both approval and scheduling is the trigger for the contract manager to begin execution at the scheduled date. Senior managers scheduling the project are committing the required resources to be available from the scheduled start date.

3. Background

The Scottish Government has committed to reviewing the delivery of the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme annually to ensure it continues to meet its stated objectives and to identify areas of improvement. The scheme's objectives are:

• Tackling fuel poverty
• Reducing carbon emissions
• Improving the housing stock
• Offering value for money
• Bringing additional community benefits

There have been two previous reviews covering the periods from scheme launch on 1 September 2015 to the end of the 2015/16 financial year and for the period of the 2016/17 financial year. These reviews considered every aspect of Warmer Homes Scotland including operational delivery and wider strategic issues. The 2016/17 review was published on the Scottish Government website on 26^th March 2018. This review examined the progress made in addressing the 11 recommendations made in the 2015/16 review. It made 13 recommendations intended to improve access to and delivery of Warmer Homes Scotland as well as recommending where the focus of the 2017/18 review should lie.

4. Objectives

The overarching objective of the review is to determine whether Warmer Homes Scotland is meeting its objectives, to identify emerging trends within the data and to identify any areas for improvement in delivery of the scheme.

This review will also examine the progress that has been made in implementing the recommendations of the 2016/17 review.

This review should also examine the outcomes of the Procurement and Gateway Reviews that were carried out on the scheme in the 2017/18 financial year and report on the progress made on implementing the recommendations made in both these reviews.

5. Approach

Broadly, data collected by both Warmworks Scotland LLP and the Energy Saving Trust related to the delivery of Warmer Homes Scotland during 2017/18 will be analysed in line with the scope of the review to form conclusions and recommendations for future delivery.

6. Scope

Linked to the overarching objectives set out in paragraph 3, the review will include (but is not restricted to) the items outlined in the following sections. The review should consider how likely it is that any of these objectives might fail to be met and what improvements could be made to mitigate this.

The review should also consider what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the 2016/17 review as well as the Procurement and Gateway Reviews that the scheme was subject to in the 2017/18 delivery year. In particular, budgets and value for money should be a key consideration.

The review will be carried out in two phases. Phase one includes data collection and validation, and phase two, analysis of that data and the development of recommendations.

6.1 Warmer Homes Scotland objectives

• Determine whether or not the scheme is meeting (or is on track to meet) its stated objectives;
• If objectives are not being met or progress towards meeting objectives is not being made, determine why that is and make recommendations that will bring the scheme back into line with meeting its objectives.

6.2 Recommendations from 2016/17 and the Procurement and Gateway Reviews

• Determine whether the recommendations from these reviews have been (or are in the process of being) implemented;
• If the recommendations are not being implemented or progress towards implementation has not been made, determine why that is and make further recommendations that will ensure these improvements are made.

7. Reporting

The outcome of the review should be reported, firstly, to the Scottish Government's identified contract manager and thereafter to the HEEPS Delivery Board and Warmer Homes Scotland Strategic Board. Where reports make recommendations, all parties will provide an outline of what actions they will take to implement these and their timescales. The review should conclude and report by December 2018.