Heat networks target 2035 consultation: business and regulatory impact assessment - partial

5. Sectors and Groups Affected

Using statistics from the latest Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES),^[15] employment^[16] in the economic sector most closely associated with heat networks^[17] totalled 75 workers in 2021, down from a peak of 150 in 2020 and up from a low of 15 in 2015 (the earliest year for which we have data). This sector captures the “production, collection and distribution of steam and hot water for heating, power and other purposes”.^[18] At the level of local authorities, employment is highest in the Shetland Islands at 40 workers, followed by Highland and Aberdeenshire with 10 workers each. Due to Office for National Statistics (ONS) rounding convention, the sum of workers across local authorities does not equal the number of workers across Scotland as a whole.

Further employment information on the above economic sector across time, as well as ancillary sectors associated with heating, is presented below in Table 1. At a broad level, sector 25.21 covers the manufacturing of central heating radiators and boilers, and 28.14 and 28.21 cover manufacturing of ancillary heating components. As explained above, 35.30 is the economic sector most closely aligned with heat networks. Finally, sectors 43.22 and 43.29 cover construction activities, namely plumbing, heat, and air-conditioning installation, as well as other construction installation activities, respectively.

For further discussion of groups affected, please consult Section 6.