Hansard

In speaking to the motion, I hope that we can build a consensus in the Parliament not only that fuel poverty in Scotland is unacceptable in the 21st century but that we will take the steps that are needed for its eradication.

Like other parties, Labour highlighted fuel poverty in its manifesto in May this year and we committed to a warm homes bill, as did the Scottish National Party. In June, the Minister for Local Government and Housing, Kevin Stewart, told the Parliament:

“We will introduce a warm homes bill. I know that there is cross-party support for that, and we will ensure that that happens.”—[Official Report, 2 June 2016; c 72]

I very much welcomed that statement, so I was disappointed when the programme for government that was introduced by SNP ministers in September made no mention of such a bill. I was disappointed because of the scale and impact of fuel poverty across all measures of social wellbeing.

Given that the bill has not materialised, Scottish Labour members want to restate our view and get agreement from the Government for a warm homes act for Scotland that can tackle fuel poverty, improve energy efficiency and help to meet our climate change targets. Our main ask of Government today is to reset the fuel poverty target, but we also highlight the challenges that the public, social and private rented markets face and call for parity across all sectors when it comes to energy efficiency requirements.

The 2016 target to eradicate fuel poverty has not been met and that is a source of regret. Although I am sure that others will say more about that target being missed and that Jackie Baillie—who set that target when she was a minister—is very disappointed, there has nonetheless been progress as a direct result of her introducing such legislation.

The evidence supports my view that there has been an underinvestment on what was needed, but progress can be celebrated. In particular, the success of local councils and housing associations must be recognised and built upon. It is clear that the duty placed on public housing bodies through the housing quality and energy efficiency standards has led to major progress on tackling fuel poverty in the social rented sector. We have all seen programmes in our areas that have included windows, doors, cladding, insulation, boiler replacements and heating systems being put in place.

We also know that councils and third sector organisations have been active in providing information services to householders to promote benefit take-up and to offer energy saving advice to keep fuel bills as low as possible. Indeed, I have been told that, on a scale of 0 to 10 for energy efficiency, the social rented sector averaged 3 when the duty for energy efficiency standards was introduced, and today the figure stands at around 7.5. That is progress, and that progress has improved health and wellbeing and boosted the weekly budgets of families throughout Scotland.

That begs the question: if that is right for the public rented sector market, why would it not be right for the private rented sector market, much of which is publicly funded through housing benefit? What can be done to encourage improvement to owner-occupied homes so that standards improve in our houses throughout the nation?

The most recent house condition survey noted that people in the private rented sector were more likely to cite a problem with their home, such as poor insulation, draughts or inadequate heating, as a reason for not keeping warm in winter whereas social renters were more likely to say that the reason for that was the cost. That highlights how housing tenure differs, and that is why we say that fuel efficiency for the private rented sector must be addressed.

Over the past 10 years, the number of people who live in the private rented sector has doubled to 368,000. An estimated 80,000 families with children live in the private rented sector. As the existing homes alliance has pointed out, the Scottish Government’s

“poverty adviser, Naomi Eisenstadt said in her report that ‘housing costs push many people into poverty’ and ‘the focus needs to be on core costs like rent, local property-related taxes and home energy costs.’”

Therefore, as well as calling for a reset of the target for fuel poverty, we are calling on the Government to introduce energy efficiency standards for the private rented housing sector in Scotland so that, no matter whether the landlord is social, private or public, the energy efficiency standards will be the same. It cannot be right that, on a scale of nought to 10, energy efficiency on average in a council house or a housing association house is 7.5 whereas, in a private sector let, the figure is 2 or 3. That is just not acceptable.

Let us not forget that the average private rent is 86 per cent higher than the average social rent and that, over the past 10 years, an estimated 140,000 private rented sector households have lived in relative poverty.

I hope that the Government will agree that we need clarity not on whether, but on when this will happen. What we are calling for is straightforward—tenants in the private housing sector should have the same rights and support for a warm and safe home as tenants in the public and social sectors have. As I said, those powers will assist in meeting the target that we can all, I hope, sign up to resetting.

The Government has announced its intention to bring forward a child poverty bill. There will be a specific target for tackling child poverty. I agree with that and say to the Government that the same reasoning, and the same principles, for having a child poverty target should apply to resetting a fuel poverty target.

Energy Action Scotland has set out clear recommendations on fuel poverty and has made it clear that

“A new target that is realistic but ambitious must be set. It must be accompanied by a fuel poverty strategy and action plan with costs and timelines. It is essential that there is not a hiatus following the passing of the 2016 target date”.

Norman Kerr, the director of Energy Action Scotland, called on the Government

“to widen discussions to include key stakeholders and for there to be a public consultation in order to reset the target as soon as possible.”

He also stated:

“The problem of cold, damp and expensive to heat homes must be addressed and there should be no fuel poverty in Scotland.”

I agree. However, can we also be clear today that, in addition, the Government must look at the cost of energy?

Unison Scotland issued a briefing this week that stated:

“Fuel poverty is a scandal. There was once upon a time a commitment to eradicate fuel poverty. But while that may seem like a fairy tale dream, thousands across Scotland live the grim day to day nightmare of making the choice between food and fuel. At the same time, we have private companies making millions of profits. This needs to change - we need much more provision of energy as a social good rather than a source of enrichment and should be looking to change our broken energy system.”

The Scottish fuel poverty strategic working group has identified energy costs as one of the four drivers of fuel poverty. We must examine what options are available for more public control of energy provision. WWF Scotland, Friends of the Earth Scotland and RSPB Scotland all say that Scotland will have to deliver 40 per cent of its heat from renewable sources by 2030, in addition to energy improvements to fulfil targets under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. To achieve that, we should be planning a massive expansion of district and communal heating systems and should be working with local government to explore all options for municipal and community energy schemes, building on the good work that is happening in local councils across Scotland.

It is not acceptable that prices are rising faster than household incomes, and unless we address that we cannot begin to eradicate fuel poverty. Scottish fuel bills are up 138 per cent since 2003. We must provide more help for people who are fuel poor to enable them to switch to better tariffs, ensure that their billing is correct and have some form of debt relief. There is also the option to use the new social security powers to explore potential solutions to support people on low incomes to afford sufficient energy for healthy living. All that work needs to happen.

One of the strategic working group’s recommendations is that the Government should identify specific measures to support customers in rural and off-gas grid areas who suffer from higher energy costs than the rest of Scotland. That also needs to happen.

Although there will be deep disappointment at the failure to eradicate fuel poverty and meet the target—we need to reset the target—there must be a little satisfaction at the progress on eradicating fuel poverty that has been made in some parts of our society, namely the public rented sector through councils and housing associations.

No doubt we will hear much in the debate about the statistics on fuel poverty and poor housing, but I return to something that I have mentioned previously in the Parliament. Earlier this year, when I was campaigning in Paisley, I met a family who told me that they had moved out of their cold, damp house and into a new housing association house. They made two key points, the first of which was that in the cold, damp house, 25 per cent of their household income went on energy costs whereas in the new house, which had proper energy efficiency measures in place, their energy costs had been reduced to below 5 per cent of their household income. Their second point was that their little girl’s asthma problems had meant that when they lived in the cold, damp house they were continually having to make emergency visits to hospital with her because of the dampness; since they moved into their new home, the little girl had not once had to go back to hospital.

The benefits of tackling fuel poverty are there for everyone to see. Shelter Scotland has said that

“for every £1 spent reducing fuel poverty in Scotland, the NHS alone could save 42 pence.”

There are overwhelming reasons for tackling fuel poverty. Let us unite in this Parliament and agree to reset the target and get on with the challenge at hand.

I move,

That the Parliament welcomes the reports by the Scottish Fuel Poverty Strategic Working Group and Rural Fuel Poverty Task Force; notes that 845,000 households in Scotland remain in fuel poverty and that, since 2003, that number has doubled; agrees with the call from Energy Action Scotland for the Scottish Government to reset its target to eradicate fuel poverty; calls on the Scottish Government to bring forward warm homes legislation in 2017 to tackle fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency; believes that substantial energy efficiency improvements can be made in the private rented and owner-occupier sectors, and that consultation on point of transaction standards must now begin; notes that new powers over the Energy Company Obligation and Winter Fuel payments will bring new opportunities to meet an eradication target, and recognises that a timetable for an effective eradication strategy should be published.