I was pleased to hear Scottish housing and communities minister Alex Neil announce a 拢15m Scottish home insulation scheme administered by the Energy Saving Trust last week

For the construction sector, the scheme provides a welcome boost to jobs and skills. But the sum committed is brought into somewhat sharp relief by the Scottish government鈥檚 own analysis suggesting that reducing carbon emissions from Scotland鈥檚 homes by 42% over the next 10 years, a legal commitment in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act, will cost 拢1.6bn each year until 2020 鈥� more than a hundred times the money committed last week.

The Scottish government needs to match these legal commitments with the necessary cash to deliver them. At the same time, this would harness skills and capacity in the Scottish construction industry.

Michael Levack, chief executive, Scottish 黑洞社区 Federation

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