FOI/202400434886 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Queries relating to the Warmer Homes Scotland Scheme: EIR release
Information requested
A. How many households were helped by the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme in each financial year since and including 2016/17 and including the part year of 2024/25
B. How much money has been given to those households in each of the time periods referred to in A.
C. How many applied and how many got turned down in each of the time periods referred to in A.
D. What were the most common reasons for turning an application down in each of the above time periods.
E. What support is given to those who are turned down?
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.
A. The below table represents the number of households who received measures through Warmer Homes Scotland in each financial year since 2016/17. From 2023/24 the data is split into WHS1 and WHS2 to reflect both phases of Warmer Homes Scotland. Data for 24-25 Budget Year runs until 30 September 2024.
Budget Year WHS1 WHS2 Total 16-17 Budget Year 5,354 5,354 17-18 Budget Year 4,903 4,903 18-19 Budget Year 3,818 3,818 19-20 Budget Year 3,607 3,607 20-21 Budget Year 2,904 2,904 21-22 Budget Year 5,311 5,311 22-23 Budget Year 5,478 5,478 23-24 Budget Year 3,800 1,173 4,973 24-25 Budget Year 18 3,750 3,768 Total 35,193 4,923 40,116
B. Warmer Homes Scotland operates by installing suitable heating and energy efficiency measures into people’s homes, no funding is provided directly to households.
However, the table below shows the total Warmer Homes Scotland spend per year.
Year Spend 2016/17 £30,839,785.27 2017/18 £29,544,881.77 2018/19 £24,228,256.33 2019/20 £24,788,166.75 2020/21 £22,459,517.26 2021/22 £35,139,383.53 2022/23 £42,494,350.13 2023/24 WHS1 - £36,025,931 WHS2 - £15,183,502 2024/25 WHS1 - £264,074 WHS2 - £43,589,682
C. Customers apply by contacting Home Energy Scotland (HES), and if they are deemed to meet the eligibility criteria at this stage then their referral is passed on to Warmworks. It should be noted that the figure used to calculate ‘Total Applications’ includes anyone who phoned HES for general advice and had their initial eligibility checked by an advisor, they may not have necessarily called to specifically enquire about Warmer Homes Scotland.
There are two stages in the customer journey where someone can be rejected from Warmer Homes Scotland, that is when they are initially deemed ineligible by Home Energy Scotland, or after the initial home assessment by Warmworks.
The table below shows these figures broken down by the stage of the customer journey they are rejected at. Please note that some applications stop because the applicant no longer wishes to proceed, the data below excludes these applications. The figure used to calculate ‘Total Applications’ includes anyone who had their eligibility for Warmer Homes Scotland checked by HES, this may include anyone who phoned HES for general advice and may not have necessarily called to specifically enquire about or apply to Warmer Homes Scotland.
Application year Total Applications Applications turned down by HES Applications turned down by Warmworks 16-17 13,548 4,409 2,226 17-18 9,142 2,113 1,936 18-19 7,382 1,406 1,493 19-20 6,584 728 1,370 20-21 7,849 739 1,800 21-22 8,814 941 2,018 22-23 15,168 1,364 3,777 23-24 14,295 680 3,762 24-25 5,405 249 1,343 Total 88,187 12,629 19,689
D. The most common reason every year since 2016/17 for applications not progressing to Warmworks from Home Energy Scotland was people not being eligible due to not meeting the age requirement or being in receipt of any eligible benefits. The most common reason for applications not progressing once they reach Warmworks is that there are no measures suitable to install in the property.
E. When applications are turned down by Home Energy Scotland householders are offered the option to explore whether there are any other Government funded schemes available to them, such as the Scottish Government’s Area Based Schemes or HES Grant and Loan or the UK Government’s ECO Flex or ECO. Home Energy Scotland will also always offer to provide tailored energy advice to help householders make the best use of their existing heating. They will also check for other suitable support, such as Warm Home Discount or Priority Service Register.
When applications are turned down by Warmworks they are recommended to get back in contact with Home Energy Scotland to find out what other support they may be eligible for.
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.
Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Correspondence Unit Email: contactus@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrew's House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
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.
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