Meeting of the Parliament 20 December 2017
I thank Mr Lochhead for his question, which hits on an extremely important issue. The strategy sets out our rationale for our ambition of setting up a new energy company, which is largely to do with the unacceptably high levels of fuel poverty in Scottish society. In 2016, 26.5 per cent of Scottish households were fuel poor, and many of those fuel-poor households are part of the significant group of people who we know do not switch suppliers. The market is proving very sticky, in the sense that people are not switching to less expensive energy tariffs. In the energy strategy, we have set out our intention to meet our ambition of setting up an energy company vehicle that supports economic development and which also—crucially—contributes to tackling the drivers of fuel poverty in Scotland. We will consult on that in the course of 2018. It will be a formal consultation, which will give opportunities to all stakeholders, including members across the chamber, to feed in their thoughts on the role and remit of such an organisation.
Central to our concern are the level of trust that consumers in Scotland have in the energy market and the need to improve our approach to tackling inequality and promoting inclusive growth. I welcome Mr Lochhead’s interest in the issue. I know that he has had a long-standing interest in it as a minister and as a back bencher, and I look forward to working with him and other members to deliver on our ambition in due course.