Meeting of the Parliament 20 May 2025
I thank Beatrice Wishart for bringing this members’ business debate to the chamber. She has outlined extremely well the problems that will be caused for her constituents in the northern rural Shetland Islands, and I will highlight issues for Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders.
Beatrice Wishart highlighted that the RTS switch-off is due to the equipment coming to the end of its operational life, and she mentioned how that will affect the rates payable on some meters and, therefore, consumers’ energy bills.
The BBC first outlined its plans for closure of the long-wave broadcasts in 2011. More than a year ago, Radio 4 discontinued its long-wave opt-out programming. A year before that, it began running down opt-out programming on long wave. Extension after extension to the cut-off has been put in place over the years, in large part to allow the distribution companies the time that they claimed they needed to switch over the RTS meters. Yet, here we are, 14 years on and only six weeks from the long wave switch-off, and the most recent numbers that I have show that more than 7,500 households in Dumfries and Galloway and more than 6,000 in the Scottish Borders are at risk of cessation of the service or of receiving sky-high bills once the switch happens.
How do consumers know whether they have an RTS meter? There are a few things to look out for. Do they have a separate box near the meter with a radio switch label on it? Is their property heated using electricity or storage heaters? Is there no mains gas supply? That would apply to about 40 per cent of rural Dumfries and Galloway homes. Another aspect is whether their energy is cheaper at different times of the day, such as is the case with economy 7, economy 10 or total heating, total control tariffs. If people are unsure, they need to contact their energy supplier.
Just as we saw with the spike in energy prices a few years ago, it is householders and bill payers who will have to bear the consequence of the energy industry squeezing them for every penny and refusing to invest in the staffing capacity to switch the meters.
The UK-controlled regulator Ofgem has not so much taken its eye off the ball as kicked it through the nearest window. I know that the engineers will be working flat out to do what they can, but the people who work with the householders day to day have told us of their real concerns. We have heard from Citizens Advice Scotland and Age Concern Scotland about some of the problems that are being faced, such as suppliers needing to do more to increase the number of engineer appointments. Securing engineer visits can be a challenge. Once someone manages to secure one, is the appointment being honoured? People have been told that they need to replace their meters with smart meters. That might not be appropriate for them, but no alternative is offered.
Deputy Presiding Officer, I know that I am approaching the four-minute mark.
There have been 14 years to prepare, but here we are, with six weeks to go. The process sums up UK energy policy in a nutshell: it is short-termist, deregulated, last minute and profit maximising, with shareholder dividends being protected off the backs of consumers. The UK Government’s head is in the sand.
I ask the Scottish Government to do all that it can to support consumers ahead of the fast-approaching June 30 deadline. We need regulatory updating yesterday rather than in the future.
18:26