Appeals for energy bills aid soars as extreme fuel poverty on rise

THE number of Scots seeking help for unaffordable energy bills has soared in the past year, while the number of households being plunged into extreme fuel poverty has also risen over the same period.

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) is calling for greater investment in energy efficiency measures as demand for online advice rose when the weather turned cold.

Unique webpage views of the charity’s online advice page Grants and Benefits to help you pay your energy bills have increased by

136 per cent since September, going from 581 views in September to 1,372 in November. Figures continued to rise in December.

The trends have come as it emerged 32,000 more Scots households have been plunged into extreme fuel poverty in a year.

Almost one in four, some 613,000 households in Scotland, were in fuel poverty in 2019 – broadly the same as the previous year.

But of those, some 311,000 households were living in extreme fuel poverty – defined as paying more than 20 per cent of their income heating their homes – 32,000 more than in 2018.

End-of-life charity Marie Curie warned that fuel poverty will kill Scottish people quicker this winter as terminally ill people struggle to afford to heat their homes.

In Scotland, a household is considered “fuel poor” if required fuel costs are more than 10% of net income after housing costs, and the money left over after housing, fuel and childcare costs is not enough for an acceptable standard of living.

Scottish Government predictions estimate that fuel poverty figures could rise further due to Covid-19, to 29%.

CAS is now calling for greater investment in energy efficiency measures, as well as encouraging people to get help and support with their bills.

CAS Fair Markets spokeswoman Kate Morrison said: “As the weather turned cold, increasing numbers of people checked our online advice for help paying their energy bills.

“This could be the tip of the iceberg, with Covid-19 potentially leading to an increase in fuel poverty as more people struggle to heat their homes.

“The figures in Scotland are already bad enough with one in four households in fuel poverty, so it’s essential people get the help they need.

“As we look beyond Covid-19 and towards the huge challenge of net zero, investing further in energy efficiency measures is a no brainer. It’s win-win, cutting bills and emissions and the same time. With the delayed COP 26 coming to Glasgow in 2021, now is the time to invest further.”

In 2018, 59 groups from across Scotland joined forces to call for “real action” from the Government in tackling fuel poverty.

The groups, led by the Existing Homes Alliance, fear the Scottish Government’s planned Warm Homes Bill missed opportunity, unless steps are taken to beef up the legislation.

Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “We have provided support for over 100 organisations helping people with their energy costs and a significant increase to the Scottish

Welfare Fund, which can help those on low incomes with essential costs such as heating. We have also provided £432,000 for the Fuelbank Foundation, which can provide same-day support to top up prepayment meters where an individual may be at risk of disconnection.

“This year we have allocated more than £198 million to our domestic and non-domestic energy efficiency programmes. By the end of 2021, we will have allocated over £1 billion since 2009 to tackling fuel poverty and improving the energy efficiency of people’s homes to make them warmer and cheaper to heat. Our new Child Winter Heating Assistance, not available anywhere else in the UK, will help the families of up to 14,000 of the most severely disabled children and young people this winter.”