Committee
Social Justice and Social Security Committee 25 November 2021
25 Nov 2021 · S6 · Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Item of business
Proposed Fuel Poverty Strategy
I thank the witnesses for giving us their time. The pre-pandemic levels of fuel poverty in Scotland needed to be tackled, and that is the purpose and challenge of the strategy. How will Covid-19 impact on the scale of that challenge? At the pandemic’s worst, were there particular challenges in obtaining access to fuel? For example, did enforced isolation mean that people on low incomes who rely on pre-payment meters struggled to top up their pre-payment cards?
In the same item of business
The Convener (Neil Gray)
SNP
Welcome to the 11th meeting in 2021 of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee. Apologies have been received from Natalie Don, and Evelyn Tweed is a...
Foysol Choudhury (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
People who have pre-payment meters will have an immediate increase in their fuel bills, on top of their budgets being squeezed by the cost of living. Those u...
The Convener
SNP
Would you like a particular witness to respond to those questions?
Foysol Choudhury
Lab
No—they are for whoever feels comfortable answering them.
Alastair Wilcox (Citizens Advice Scotland)
On your first question, you are absolutely right that pre-payment meter users are among the first people to be hit by any price rise. As has been well public...
Frazer Scott (Energy Action Scotland)
Foysol Choudhury is right to raise the issue of people with pre-payment meters suffering greater detriment than people with credit meters. A number of action...
The Convener
SNP
Does Foysol Choudhury have another question?
Foysol Choudhury
Lab
I do not have another question on that theme.
The Convener
SNP
How about on the next theme?
Foysol Choudhury
Lab
Fuel poverty decreased until 2017, but it then seemed to flatline. If the yearly average decrease continues, we will miss the interim target for reducing fue...
The Convener
SNP
Does anybody want to come in on how we could do better at ensuring that the strategy meets our fuel poverty targets?
Elizabeth Leighton (Existing Homes Alliance Scotland)
Thank you for inviting me, as the director of the Existing Homes Alliance—a coalition of organisations that includes Citizens Advice Scotland and Energy Acti...
The Convener
SNP
Thank you. Given that no other witnesses have indicated that they want to come in, I move to a question from Miles Briggs.
Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Con)
Con
Research has found that uptake of the warm home discount in Scotland is relatively low. What are the key reasons for that, and how can that benefit be made m...
Frazer Scott
When I read the briefing paper for the meeting, I was not quite sure about that point, because I think that the evidence shows that Scotland received 10.11 p...
The Convener
SNP
That is helpful. If any other witnesses wish to come in, please do as Alastair Wilcox has just done and type R in the chat function.
Alastair Wilcox
The question possibly has its roots in research that Citizens Advice Scotland did about two years ago. We published a report last year. The member is absolut...
Robert Leslie (THAW Orkney)
I agree with what Frazer Scott and Alastair Wilcox said about access to the warm home discount. The staff at THAW spend a lot of time securing the discount f...
Miles Briggs
Con
I want to get the witnesses’ views on the financial level of the benefit. The Citizens Advice Scotland written submission says that receiving the warm home d...
Alastair Wilcox
It is difficult to deny that that is a factor. However, we should remember that, currently and historically, all consumers pay for the warm home discount thr...
Frazer Scott
I agree totally with Alastair Wilcox’s analysis of the impact that a single measure in isolation can have. Without it, things would be much worse for many of...
The Convener
SNP
That has been helpful. How could the Scottish Government better target the winter fuel and cold weather payments? In particular, given your comment about the...
Frazer Scott
I would like the whole thing to be seen as a single strategy to target those with the lowest incomes. It might be unpopular to say it, but people who do not ...
Marie McNair (Clydebank and Milngavie) (SNP)
SNP
I thank the witnesses for giving us their time. The pre-pandemic levels of fuel poverty in Scotland needed to be tackled, and that is the purpose and challe...
Alastair Wilcox
I do not think that it will come as a shock to anybody to hear that we expect the Covid-19 crisis to have made fuel poverty worse. The economic damage that i...
The Convener
SNP
Absolutely—thank you.
Elizabeth Leighton
Last year, the Scottish Government did research to project the impact that Covid would have on fuel poverty, and it found that the rate could rise from the c...
Robert Leslie
I will pick up on the point about tackling the depth of fuel poverty in rural and island areas such as Orkney. When the definition of fuel poverty changed to...
The Convener
SNP
If it is okay, I will bring in Jeremy Balfour to ask his question and ask Frazer Scott to respond to it first.
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con)
Con
I have a couple of questions. First, what difference do the witnesses think that it would make if the Scottish Government amended the forthcoming adult disab...