Ambitious plan sets goals to end fuel poverty
PEOPLE across Ross-shire could benefit after the Scottish Government incorporated changes into its own draft legislation to “end the scourge of fuel poverty”.
An earlier barrage of criticism claimed the Fuel Poverty Bill missed the target when it came to delivering for the “worst affected” areas.
Fuel poverty is defined as when households spend 10 per cent or more of income on domestic fuel – reckoned to account for one in four homes in Scotland.
The figure is understood to be significantly higher across swathes of Ross-shire, hitting homes which are not on the gas grid and reliant on oil and low-income households.
Minister for local government, housing and planning, Kevin Stewart, promised to include “a rural, remote and island minimum income standard” in poverty calculations as well as what he called “a rural uplift”.
He was speaking at the first stage of a Holyrood debate of the Bill which aims to cut fuel-poor households to five per cent by 2040 from the current national average of almost 25 per cent.
The move was welcomed by rural housing associations and local councillors but Highlands Tory MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston vowed to maintain pressure on the government to deliver on what was promised.
He said: "The minister announced that a new rural, remote and island minimum income standard will be included in their fuel poverty calculations alongside a rural uplift. We will be looking to strengthen the Bill as it progresses through the Scottish Parliament and ensuring that the Scottish Government’s pledges are met."
Before Wednesday’s debate Mr Stewart said: “Within this ground-breaking legislation, not only are we one of the few countries in the world to define fuel poverty, we are also setting a goal towards eradicating it.
“By changing the definition of fuel poverty so it’s more closely aligned to relative income poverty and taking steps to ensure it works for remote rural and island communities, we are ensuring our support is focussed on those who need it most."
He added: "In this day and age, it is unacceptable that any Scottish household should have to choose between having the heating on and cooking their dinner.”
Councillor Ian Cockburn, who represents the Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh welcomed the Bill as "something has to be done about fuel poverty" while arguing it is also time to rethink infrastructure like the national grid.
"It is ambitious but has to be tried to get fuel poverty down in rural areas. We are one of the most energy rich countries in the world so we should be able to get something done. Too many people take it as just being part of the landscape up here so we need to change that thinking as well to get people the assistance that they need.
"Scotland should not be in this state. But you have to look back, the National Grid was set up at the end of the war, the Highlands is considered 'off-grid' despite supplying much of the rest of the country through hydro and wind power. It is time for a rethink."
Calum Macaulay, chief executive of Invergordon-based Albyn Housing Society, said: “We welcome this development in the Scottish Government’s approach to addressing fuel poverty in rural areas. The push to include minimum income standards feels like a significant step forwards. This is something that the Rural and Islands Housing Association Forum has been promoting for quite some time.
"This has included research undertaken with the support of Highlands and Islands Enterprise and others into minimum income standards in rural communities. The results of this highlighted the pressures of lower average household incomes and higher average fuel costs across the northern parts of Scotland."
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