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25 September 2013

(S4O-02423) Fuel Poverty

2. Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP):

To ask the Scottish Government how the draft budget supports people affected by fuel poverty. (S4O-02423)

The Minister for Housing and Welfare (Margaret Burgess): The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth announced the Scottish Government’s spending plans for 2014-15 and 2015-16 on Wednesday 11 September. For fuel poverty, he announced a budget of £79 million in both years. As with this year’s budget allocation, we will use our funding to lever in private sector funding from the utility companies that are seeking to meet their obligations under the energy companies obligation to create a fund of £200 million per annum. That will be used for both area-based and national scheme delivery through our HEEPS—home energy efficiency programme Scotland—schemes. The budget will address the fuel poverty forum’s interim report recommendations on Scottish Government funding programmes, continue to support our targets to eradicate fuel poverty as far as practicable by 2016, and contribute to meeting our climate change commitments.

Stewart Stevenson: Does the minister agree that, at 31 per cent among rural dwellers in Aberdeenshire, current levels of fuel poverty are unacceptably high? I very much welcome the financial support that the minister has identified. With the full powers of an independent country, what more could we do besides putting in place the mitigations that are currently available to us?

Margaret Burgess: The member will be pleased to know that, under our current measures, Aberdeenshire Council has the second-highest allocation in Scotland, at £4.4 million. That will provide assistance to just under 2,500 households in the area. I am sure that the member will be pleased to note that. Alongside what we are currently doing, the Scottish ministers continue to work to protect the interests of consumers. In the future, the expert commission on energy regulation will look to provide evidence on what improvements could be made to Scotland’s stewardship of electricity and gas regulation in an independent Scotland. The commission will provide advice on ways in which an independent Scotland could promote fairer, more affordable energy prices, given the need to address fuel poverty, and measures to improve energy efficiency.

Mary Fee (West Scotland) (Lab): With an estimated 29 per cent of Scottish households currently living in fuel poverty—a level that has failed to drop below 25 per cent since 2007—can the minister inform us how the national retrofit programme will ensure that Scotland meets its 2016 target? Is the minister supportive of the Labour Party’s energy price freeze commitment?

Margaret Burgess: To repeat what I said earlier, we will continue to work to protect the interests of Scottish consumers and continue to fund the HEEPS programme, which is providing measures throughout the whole of Scotland—unlike the United Kingdom Government, which has put zero into that. On the other question, there are some big ifs in that. If there were a future Labour Government, it is unclear how it would implement that future policy. Has Labour spoken to the fuel companies and what is their commitment? What would be the eventual impact on fuel bills?

The Deputy Presiding Officer: I will allow a brief question from Alex Johnstone.

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): As the minister will be aware, one of the reasons for high fuel costs in rural areas is the high cost of off-grid gas and oil supplies for heating. What advice and support can the Government give to those who seek to create buying clubs to cut the cost of off-grid supplies?

Margaret Burgess: We are currently looking at that issue. We have been in discussion with some rural communities, particularly in the islands—I discussed the issue when I was up there during the summer recess—and we continue to talk with them about that. We well appreciate the difficulties that island and rural communities face because they are off grid, as the member mentioned. I would be willing to sit down with the member to inform him what discussions we have had so far and where those are going. If he has any other suggestions to offer, I am willing to discuss them with him.

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