Meeting of the Parliament 20 May 2025
The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-17484, in the name of Beatrice Wishart, on the radio teleswitch service switch-off. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
I encourage members who wish to participate to press their request-to-speak buttons now or as soon as possible, and I call Beatrice Wishart to open the debate.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament is concerned that the Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS), used by energy suppliers for some electricity meters, particularly in island and rural areas, to control heating and hot water systems, is set to end on 30 June 2025, with tens of thousands of customers across Scotland reportedly expected to be impacted as they are yet to have their RTS meter exchanged; understands that, in areas such as the Highlands and Islands region and other parts of rural Scotland, many households are still waiting for a meter exchange and that, as of the end of April 2025, Shetland still had 4,490 meters to be exchanged ahead of the deadline; further understands that energy companies are not replacing meters at the pace required before the deadline; considers that large areas of Scotland face technical issues with connecting smart meters and a lack of engineers; notes the view that functioning heating and hot water systems are fundamental to an adequate standard of living and that changes to metering technology should not leave households, particularly those in island and rural communities, financially worse off than they are on their current tariff, or facing the possibility of losing heating and hot water after the switch-off of the RTS signal; further notes the calls on local resilience partnerships to ready themselves for the potential adverse outcomes of the RTS switch-off, which may include thousands of homes being left without heating and hot water, and notes the calls to plug the gaps in smart meter coverage to ensure that rural areas are not disadvantaged due to their poor connectivity.
18:03Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.