Winter Fuel Woes

As the icy chill of winter has begun to bite recently, a timely debate in the Scottish Parliament on the issue of fuel poverty gave me the opportunity to highlight the reality of heating costs which are hitting many homes extremely hard, especially in the rural North East.

For those who heat their homes by gas or electricity and have the energy conveniently delivered automatically by the national grid, the need to pre-plan and pre-pay for their energy use is largely absent. However, many of my constituents and, indeed, across Scotland are based in a rural location and are dependent on fuel that they have to order and have delivered— fuel that they have to pay for before use. Indeed, for many, domestic heating oil is their main energy source, and it is not one which can be conveniently bought in dribs and drabs.

The most recent fuel poverty figures for Scotland show that it remains a real problem and Energy Action Scotland say that, after taking into account the rises in fuel price since 2011, up to 900,000 Scottish households could be affected. Approximately four million households in the UK are not connected to the mains gas grid and these households are generally restricted in their choices when it comes to heating fuel. Indeed, households with oil-fired central heating, and those using solid fuel or liquid petroleum gas to heat their homes, are much more likely to be in fuel poverty than "on-grid" households.

Measures such as the winter fuel allowance, while welcome, are not in themselves a solution, and more can be done to improve the situation. For example, SNP MP Mike Weir recently sponsored the Winter Fuel Allowance Payments Bill in the Westminster Parliament, which was intended to provide for the early payment of the winter fuel allowance to people whose main source of fuel is home fuel oil, liquid petroleum gas or propane gas.

Currently, winter fuel allowance payments are made in November of December, when home heating oil is in highest demand, and prices are likely to peak. The small procedural shift proposed by Mr Weir’s bill would allow those households who are dependent on fuel oil to receive their payments in July, thereby allowing them to stock up on fuel earlier in the year, when prices are likely to be lower than in the middle of winter.

However, in typical fashion Mr Weir’s bill was shot down at Westminster, and talked out without much consideration being given to its substantive provisions.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government continues its determination to do all it can to remedy the cruelly ironic situation which sees so many in our energy rich country, suffering fuel poverty. Indeed, the benefits of Scotland’s blossoming energy industries are such that we could soon be able to eradicate fuel poverty, as well as boost employment and tackle climate change

Home insulation, to take one example, is a particularly effective adaptation which not only reduces energy consumption and keeps costs down, but creates insulation manufacture and installation jobs, which are often local, thus keeping money in our own economy and boosting employment. It is a win-win-win agenda.

However, despite Scotland’s best efforts to continue this progress with administrative measures, Westminster retains the legislative powers which would allow us to resolve these problems for good, and that can only be achieved with a Yes vote in 2014.