Reducing fuel poverty must be ‘a greater priority’, ministers told

Tackling fuel poverty should be “a greater priority” for the Scottish Government, an advisory panel has said.

The Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel has published its response to the Government’s Tackling Fuel Poverty in Scotland periodic report 2021-24.

The report shows fuel poverty in Scotland has risen since the 2019 statutory targets were set. In 2019, 24.6% of households were in fuel poverty, and this increased to 34% in 2023.

The panel’s main function is to scrutinise the Government on progress made towards targets set out in the Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act 2019.

The panel’s report said: “Given the current levels of fuel poverty, in the panel’s opinion tackling fuel poverty should be a greater priority now than it was when the Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament.

“In comparison to other policy areas with statutory targets – child poverty and climate change – the panel believes that fuel poverty has not seen the required level of strategic prioritisation.”

Gillian Campbell, director of the Existing Homes Alliance, which is a coalition of housing, environmental, fuel poverty, consumer and industry organisations, voiced concern at rising levels of fuel poverty in Scotland.

She said: “The Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel highlights that the number of households in fuel poverty rose from 24.6% in 2019 to 34% in 2023. This rising level of fuel poverty in renewables-rich Scotland is deeply concerning.

“Poor energy efficiency remains one of the main drivers of fuel poverty, yet we know Scotland already has excellent fuel poverty and energy efficiency programmes that can make homes warmer, healthier and cheaper to heat. However, the scale of existing programmes doesn’t match current levels of need.

“The Scottish Government must commit to scaling up these effective schemes and providing long-term funding certainty so local authorities and partners can maximise their impact.

“Without that commitment, too many people will continue to face the impossible choice between heating and eating this winter.”

Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan said: “We welcome this report and will consider its recommendations as we work together towards achieving our fuel poverty targets – which remain the most ambitious in the UK.

“Our commitment to tackling fuel poverty is unwavering, and we are doing all we can within our powers to support households.

“We are investing £300 million this year into improving the heating and energy efficiency of our homes and buildings. This coming winter we will provide an estimated £28.3 million through our winter heating payment, £11.4 million through our child winter heating payment, and £157 million through our pension age winter heating payment, after payment recovery from pensioners with a taxable income above £35,000.

“However, it is clear that high energy prices must be addressed, and the fundamental fiscal and policy levers to make a real difference lie with the UK Government. If fuel prices had remained at 2019 levels, the efforts we are making in Scotland would have seen a decrease of around 389,000 households in fuel poverty.

“This is why we continue to press the UK Government to urgently deliver an automatic and targeted discount on energy bills to address unaffordable bills at source.”