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The 2021 Heat in Buildings Strategy sets out the role of solar thermal technology, which can help to supplement the supply of hot water.

Our Heat in Buildings Programme offers a wide variety of schemes that provide funding to reduce heat demand and decarbonise heat in our homes and buildings. This includes loan support for the installation of solar thermal systems through the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme. There are no planned changes regarding the funding for solar thermal systems.

As stated in the answer to question S6W-41965 on 27 November 2025, the Scottish Government intends to adopt the Home Energy Model (HEM) methodology as the basis for calculating the ratings on a domestic Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). The reformed domestic EPC will contain a new Heating System Rating. We expect solar thermal systems will largely operate as part of a hybrid system with other technologies. This will be reflected in the rating awarded. Our intended Heating System Rating bandings were published in the : to the 2023 Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) reform consultation and 2025 technical consultation.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

The advice remains that the complainant seeks a view from the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman on whether maladministration has occurred, and if so, appropriate remedy.

As set out in the Scottish Public Finance Manual, Annex 1:

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (the Ombudsman) considers complaints from members of the public claiming that they have sustained injustice or hardship in consequence of maladministration or service failure. The powers and responsibilities of the Ombudsman are set out in the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002.

In the light of the investigation of the case, the Ombudsman will decide whether complainants have suffered injustice because of maladministration; and whether any injustice has been, or will be, remedied.

The timing of the publication of the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry’s final report is a matter for the Inquiry. Public inquiries operate independently of government, and decisions about the report’s preparation and publication rest solely with the Chair. This will now become the responsibility of the new Chair. It is in the public interest for the Inquiry to come to a conclusion promptly and for its recommendations to be implemented as swiftly as possible.

We are committed to rapidly improving care and services for people with chronic pain by delivering the actions in the at the pace that is required.

A dedicated short-life working group on workforce planning has been established to review current provision of chronic pain services and consider what future models and capacity are required to ensure services are sustainable. This group is due to present their recommendations in the new year.

We are aware of the concerns that have been raised about access to specialist interventions, such as lidocaine infusions, pain relief injections and radio-frequency denervation treatments, and we are committed to ensuring that decisions about these treatments are made transparently and fairly.

To support this, the Scottish Health Technologies Group is conducting an independent review of the safety and effectiveness of a range of specialist interventions for chronic non-malignant pain in adults, including lidocaine infusions and radio-frequency denervation treatments.

The findings of this review, expected in January 2026, will ensure that decisions on access to these interventions are guided by the best available clinical evidence and shaped by the experiences of people living with chronic pain. This includes an assessment of the risks and benefits of each of those treatments.

We encourage anyone with chronic pain using any of these treatments to speak with a healthcare professional before stopping treatment. They will be best placed to provide specific advice, support and recommend any alternative treatments should this be deemed clinically necessary.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Our Heat in Buildings Programme offers a wide variety of schemes that provide funding to reduce heat demand and decarbonise heat in our homes and buildings.

The most common use for solar thermal technology is in providing domestic hot water heating only. Whilst it can provide space heating, for this reason, it was described as a secondary technology within the Heat in Buildings Strategy.

For homeowners seeking to install solar thermal technology to their home, up to £5,000 of loan funding is available through the Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan scheme. Solar thermal is also funded through our national fuel poverty scheme, Warmer Homes Scotland (WHS), where specific criteria are met.

No funding is available for solar PV systems through the HES Grant and Loan Scheme, however targeted deployment of this technology is funded through the WHS programme and Area Based Schemes.

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are calculated in Scotland and the rest of the UK by an approved methodology for both new and existing buildings. The current methodology for assessing new domestic buildings is the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) and for existing domestic buildings is Reduced data SAP (RdSAP).

The presence of solar thermal installations is assessed as part of the SAP methodology and so its installation would improve the EPC rating by reducing the heat required from the main heating system and so reduce the cost of heating hot water. Solar Domestic Hot Water systems can also appear as a recommendation automatically generated as part of an EPC assessment.

As stated in the answer to question S6W-41965 on 27 November 2025, the Scottish Government intends to adopt the Home Energy Model (HEM) methodology as the basis for calculating the ratings on a domestic Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). The reformed domestic EPC will contain a new Heating System Rating. We expect solar thermal systems will largely operate as part of a hybrid system with other technologies. This will be reflected in the rating awarded. Our intended Heating System Rating bandings were published in the updated Government Response on 10 October. This can be found at: .

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-41890 on 1 December 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

The Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland continue to support NHS Highland and Highland HSCP to ensure consistent, safe and timely access to vaccination across the area under the new model. The detailed timetable is a matter for NHS Highland and Highland HSCP.