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Meeting of the Parliament 23 January 2013

23 Jan 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Fuel Poverty

Burgess, Margaret SNP Cunninghame South Watch on SPTV

I welcome the opportunity to reconfirm to the Parliament the Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling fuel poverty. The most recent fuel poverty figures for Scotland, which were published in December 2012, show that Scottish Government action is mitigating swingeing fuel price increases. Despite punishing 14 per cent increases in autumn 2011, improved household energy efficiency prevented 35,000 households from falling into fuel poverty.

However, it gives me little comfort that 684,000 Scottish households were in fuel poverty in October 2011. Without improvements in the energy efficiency of homes and a small increase in household income, many thousands more households would be in fuel poverty. The statistics show that income growth brought fuel poverty down by 2.2 per cent and that energy efficiency improvements brought it down by 1.5 per cent. However, the increase in fuel prices put fuel poverty up by 4.7 per cent, which cancelled out much of what we had achieved.

Our target to eradicate fuel poverty as far as is reasonably practicable by 2016 remains challenging, given that it is predicted that energy prices will continue to rise. However, we will not shy away from striving to make energy bills more affordable. Nor will we redefine fuel poverty, as Westminster seeks to do, by reclassifying poor households as too poor to be fuel poor.

I spoke to a constituent, the week before last. She is in her 70s and she worked all her life from the age of 15. She has a small pension from her work and a state pension; her total income is just under £200 a week. She is struggling to make ends meet. The fuel company asked her to increase her direct debit, but she is currently spending 17.8 per cent of her income on fuel. That is simply not acceptable in 21st century Scotland. My constituent’s experience starkly illustrates why the Parliament needs the powers to tackle a situation that is a disgrace in an energy-rich nation such as ours.

In autumn, all the large energy suppliers announced price increases of between 7 and 10.8 per cent. The Deputy First Minister is meeting each supplier to express concern about energy price rises, press for action to protect vulnerable consumers and secure suppliers’ commitment to investing in Scotland’s national retrofit programme.

Specifically, we are asking the energy companies to commit at least a pro rata share of energy company obligation targets for Scotland, based on their market share; to tell us what further steps they intend to take to assist vulnerable households; to automatically switch vulnerable customers to the lowest tariff; to implement as soon as possible the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets retail market review proposals that were published in October; and to continue funding for energy best deal plus roll-out throughout Scotland.

Tomorrow, I will host a summit in Scotland jointly with Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, and Michael Moore to seek further solutions from the big energy companies. I am sure that the Parliament will support me in urging them to do more for struggling families in Scotland.

However, the most sustainable way in which to tackle fuel poverty is by raising the energy efficiency of homes, thus providing greater comfort and lower bills.

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Meeting of the Parliament 23 January 2013

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