1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
1.1.1 In April 2007, Halcrow was commissioned by the Scottish Government to undertake an independent review of the impact and effectiveness of energy efficiency and microgeneration support provided to the domestic, private and public sectors in Scotland. While a significant proportion of UK energy policy is reserved, measures which promote energy efficiency and microgeneration are fully devolved to the Scottish Government.
1.1.2 The Scottish Government devotes significant resource to this objective, with £10 million per annum allocated to funding major Scottish energy efficiency programmes run by the Carbon Trust ( CT) and the Energy Saving Trust ( EST). Support for the development of small scale renewables is delivered principally through the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative ( SCHRI). The Scottish Government has committed £18 million to the programme since it began. This is managed by EST for the household stream across Scotland and community stream in lowland Scotland, and by the Highlands and Islands Community Energy Company ( HICEC) for the community stream across the Highlands and Islands.
1.1.3 In addition the Scottish Government has also provided funding of £3 million for Loan Action Scotland ( LAS), a revolving loan fund to provide SMEs with the capital investment for energy efficiency improvements, and allocated £24 million to the Central Energy Efficiency Fund ( CEEF), a similar scheme for the public sector.
1.1.1 Alongside this support, there are a number of sources for advice and guidance relating to energy efficiency measures including energy supply companies and charitable trusts. In terms of funding for microgeneration, a number of energy companies also manage funds to encourage small scale renewable projects such as the Scottish Power Green Energy Fund and the Powergen GreenPlan Fund. Scottish residents are also able to apply for funding through the Low Carbon Buildings Programme ( LCBP) funded by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform ( DBERR) - previously the Department for Trade and Industry ( DTI), which provides support for the whole of the UK.
1.1.4 With a range of support mechanisms available to encourage the further development of energy efficiency and microgeneration, it is necessary to ensure that the funding delivered by the Scottish Government is targeted at areas where it can maximise its impact, and lead to the greatest net benefits. Therefore, the principal aim of this review as stated in the brief is, " to review and assess the effectiveness of the advice and support currently being provided to the domestic, public and business sector, and to establish whether it represents good value for money in terms of raising awareness, changing behaviours and attitudes and in achieving carbon savings".
1.1.5 The Scottish Government recently consulted on a draft Energy Efficiency and Microgeneration Strategy for Scotland. The draft strategy outlined current and committed future activities across the domestic, business and public sectors. The consultation closed in June 2007, and these responses and the findings from this research study will inform future policy developments in this area.
1.2 Methodology
1.1.6 The proposed methodology to undertake this study was contained in the proposal submitted by Halcrow to the Scottish Government in March 2007. An inception meeting was held on the 23rd April 2007, which confirmed the objectives of the project, the proposed method and the programme for individual stages of the commission. An inception meeting report was produced by Halcrow and agreed with the client, which provided further clarification regarding study objectives and methodology.
1.2.1 A number of key tasks were identified in the proposal including:
- Strategic and contextual review
- Performance review and mapping
- Stakeholder consultations
- Survey of beneficiaries
- International case studies
- Value for money assessment
1.2.2 This reported is therefore divided into the following chapters
- Chapter 2 reports on the strategic and contextual review
- Chapter 3 reports on the performance review and mapping
- Chapter 4 presents the findings from the household survey
- Chapter 5 summarises the findings from the survey of organisations
- Chapter 6 presents the value for money assessment
- Chapter 7 presents an emerging issues section
- Chapter 8 provides the summary and recommendations for the review
1.1.7 The international case studies which were undertaken as part of this review are provided in the appendices to the main report. Key issues emerging from the international case studies are included in chapter 7 on emerging issues.