Chamber and committees

The most recent statistics on fuel poverty were published in December 2015 (Scottish House Condition Survey: Key Findings 2014 http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/12/8460) and do not show an increase in fuel poverty between 2013 and 2014. The Scottish House Condition Survey 2012-2014 publication is based on a different time period to the national report. It is based on three year rolling averages to ensure reasonable sample sizes for local authority analysis and is therefore not designed to measure year-on-year change. Given the small sample sizes and overlapping samples, the local authority results in this publication do not show a statistically significant increase in fuel poverty and extreme fuel poverty between 2011-13 and 2012-14 for any local authority area.

Since 2009, we have allocated over half a billion pounds to make Scotland’s homes more energy efficient and over 700,000 of the most vulnerable households in our society have received assistance to help them heat their homes affordably.

In 2015, we launched our new flagship national fuel poverty scheme – Warmer Homes Scotland. This new scheme, which is focussed on the installation of a wide range of energy efficiency and heating measures, is expected to help around 28,000 of the poorest and most vulnerable households, including pensioners and fuel poor families, across Scotland during its lifetime. Warmer Homes Scotland has been designed to ensure that customers are not disadvantaged because of where they live, so householders in Orkney and the Highlands and Islands will receive the same high quality service as those in the central belt.

With the devolution of cold weather payments and winter fuel payments, we are also considering how best to use winter fuel payments to tackle fuel poverty and make homes warmer. This includes looking at whether it is appropriate to extend eligibility and if fuel bill rebates should be considered. We want to help people who are struggling to keep their homes warm – and this is one area we are exploring to see if are able to do that.

We are asking for views on how effective the cold weather payments and winter fuel payments are in tackling fuel poverty and what, if any, changes might be welcomed.

The Scottish Government is committed to eradicating fuel poverty and has allocated over half a billion pounds since 2009 on a raft of measures to help people in all of Scotland heat their homes affordably.

Since 2013-14, we have allocated almost £18 million of funding through our Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland: Area Based Schemes to combat fuel poverty in Shetland, Orkney, Highlands and the Western Isles. We anticipate that this will result in more than 3,900 energy efficiency measures installed in homes in these areas.

Notes:

1. Figures for 13-14 measures are actual as reported in the summary delivery report.

2. Figures for 14-15 measures are per the final monitoring return except for Orkney – they were unable to agree a contract and returned their 14-15 allocation – figures are for what they expect to do with their 15-16 allocation only.

3. Figures for 15-16 measures are estimated taken from their offer of grant S.1 for the measures they said they would do.

The results from the Scottish House Condition Survey 2012-2014 are based on three years of data and are not designed to measure year-on-year change. Due to the small sample size in the Scottish House Condition Survey, the local authority results do not show a statistically significant increase in fuel poverty and extreme fuel poverty between 2011-13 and 2012-14. Nationally, fuel poverty in rural areas went from 53% in 2013 to 50% in 2014.

As part of the half a billion pounds we have allocated since 2009, we have invested almost £180 million over the last three years through our Area Based Schemes, delivering energy efficiency improvements from Shetland to Dumfries and Galloway. The £50 million allocated to Area Based Schemes in 2016-17 is still double the funding of that of its predecessor Universal Home Insulation Scheme in 2012-13 and £50 million more than the UK Government invests in area based schemes in England.

Next year we are making available over £103 million to tackle fuel poverty and energy efficiency, which is a significant commitment in light of on-going spending pressures and UK Government cuts. It will support the installation of measures in some 14,000 homes and also support the development of Scotland’s energy efficiency programme.

We are also listening to stakeholders as we develop our approach on tackling fuel poverty. We have set up the short term Fuel Poverty Strategic Working Group to work alongside the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum and the Scottish Rural Fuel Poverty Task Force to build on our efforts to date and drive forward the fuel poverty agenda. The strategic working group and Rural Fuel Poverty Task Force will report on their findings later in 2016.

The most recent statistics on fuel poverty were published in December 2015 (Scottish House Condition Survey: Key Findings 2014 http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/12/8460) and do not show an increase in fuel poverty between 2013 and 2014. The Scottish House Condition Survey 2012-2014 publication is based on a different time period to the national report. It is based on three year rolling averages to ensure reasonable sample sizes for local authority analysis and is therefore not designed to measure year-on-year change. Given the small sample sizes and overlapping samples, the local authority results in this publication do not show a statistically significant increase in fuel poverty and extreme fuel poverty between 2011-13 and 2012-14 for any local authority area.

We are listening to a wide range of stakeholders as we develop our approach on tackling fuel poverty. Ofgem and some energy companies are observers on the Fuel Poverty Forum and regularly attend meetings with other stakeholders along with Scottish Government officials to discuss actions that will drive forward the eradication of fuel poverty.

We have allocated £103 million to tackle fuel poverty and energy efficiency in 2016-17, which will be used to help install energy efficiency measures, including solid wall insulation, in 14,000 homes, building on the more than 900,000 measures delivered since 2008.

We have broadly maintained the expenditure available for fuel poverty and energy efficiency in the budgets that we have under our control, in what is a tough financial climate. The 2015-16 budget was increased over the course of the year with £15 million of consequentials from the UK Government’s Green Deal Home Improvement Fund. This scheme was ended without warning by the UK Government and is therefore no longer available to us.

The most recent statistics on fuel poverty were published in December 2015 (Scottish House Condition Survey: Key Findings 2014

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/12/8460) and do not show an increase in fuel poverty between 2013 and 2014. The Scottish House Condition Survey 2012-2014 publication is based on a different time period to the national report. It is based on three year rolling averages to ensure reasonable sample sizes for local authority analysis and is therefore not designed to measure year-on-year change. Given the small sample sizes and overlapping samples, the local authority results in this publication do not show a statistically significant increase in fuel poverty and extreme fuel poverty between 2011-13 and 2012-14 for any local authority area.

The Scottish Government is doing everything it can to tackle fuel poverty and these latest statistics show that fuel poverty levels have been contained despite fuel prices rising.

The Scottish Government is committed to meeting its statutory target of eradicating fuel poverty, as far as is reasonably practicable, by November 2016.

We have already allocated over half a billion pounds since 2009 on a raft of fuel poverty programmes to help the most vulnerable in our society heat their homes affordably. Since 2008 more than 900,000 measures have been installed in homes in Scotland. Our efforts are paying off and have resulted in the highest number of energy efficient homes ever. The number of homes rated Energy Performance Certificate C and above has increased by 71% since 2010, and 11% in the last year.

The Scottish Government is doing everything it can to tackle this issue and these latest statistics show that fuel poverty levels have been contained despite fuel prices rising. We therefore continue to call on energy companies to pass on wholesale cost savings to customers at the earliest opportunity and to the fullest extent possible for both gas and electricity customers.

The most recent statistics on fuel poverty were published in December 2015 (Scottish House Condition Survey: Key Findings 2014

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/12/8460) and do not show an increase in fuel poverty between 2013 and 2014. The Scottish House Condition Survey 2012-2014 publication is based on a different time period to the national report. It is based on three year rolling averages to ensure reasonable sample sizes for local authority analysis and is therefore not designed to measure year-on-year change. Given the small sample sizes and overlapping samples, the local authority results in this publication do not show a statistically significant increase in fuel poverty and extreme fuel poverty between 2011-13 and 2012-14 for any local authority area.

The Scottish Rural Fuel Poverty Task Force will publish its findings in autumn 2016.

The Scottish Fuel Poverty Strategic Working Group will publish its findings by the end of 2016.

The amount of funding Scottish Government has provided for VisitScotland in each year since 2011 is provided in the following table:

VisitScotland cash budget since 2011 (£ million)

Notes:

(1) Data from annual accounts except for 2015-16 (sourced from VisitScotland business plan for 2015-18).

(2) The % difference is based on the budget allocation from the previous year.

(3) Above figures exclude ring-fenced DEL (non-cash).

The Scottish Government meets with COSLA representatives regularly to discuss waste and resource management issues, including deposit return.