Scotland misses fuel poverty targets

The Scottish government has announced that it will not meet its target to end fuel poverty in Scotland by November 2016.

The Scottish government has a statutory duty under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 to ‘ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, that people are not living in fuel poverty in Scotland by November 2016’. The most recent figures for 2014 revealed that around 35 per cent of Scottish households remain in fuel poverty, according to Energy Action Scotland.

Director of the national fuel poverty charity Energy Action Scotland Norman Kerr said: “Given the Scottish Government’s recognition that its fuel poverty target will not be met this year, we are calling on them to widen discussions to include key stakeholders and for there to be public consultation in order to reset the target as soon as possible.

“The problem of cold, damp and expensive to heat homes must be addressed and there should be no fuel poverty in Scotland.”

The charity set out six key recommendations to the government including resetting the target, creating a fuel poverty cross-departmental group and a cross-party group and giving funding to fuel poverty programmes.

Housing minister, Kevin Stewart defended the missed target, saying: “This government has allocated over half a billion pounds since 2009 and this year we are making available more than £103 million to tackle fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency.

“Two out of five homes are now in the top three ratings for energy efficiency, an increase of 71 per cent since 2010 and 11 per cent in the last year alone.”

Stewart added that above-inflation energy price increases “beyond our control” greatly impacted on Scottish households. He added: “Based on the expert advice we have now received, we must accept that fuel poverty will not be eradicated this year.”

Stewart insisted that the government remained committed to continuing its efforts and would work with stakeholders to review the fuel poverty action plan.