Draft Fuel Poverty Strategy for Scotland 2018

Executive Summary

This Draft Fuel Poverty Strategy contains a number of actions that the Scottish Government will take to deliver our ambition of eradicating fuel poverty. Here are some highlights.

1. We will establish a new statutory definition of fuel poverty that focusses on low income households

2. We will enshrine in legislation a new target that in 2040 no more than 5% of households in Scotland are in fuel poverty.

3. We will put in place non-statutory interim targets and milestones at 2030 and 2040 to measure progress.

4. We will publish a long-term fuel poverty strategy, within a year of commencement of the fuel poverty Bill, and publish a report every 5 years to update on progress.

5. Through Energy Efficient Scotland, we will invest in making our homes – in all tenures – warmer, greener and more efficient, as part of our commitment to remove energy efficiency as a driver of fuel poverty.

6. We will undertake a review of the scheme eligibility for Warmer Homes Scotland, taking account of the new fuel poverty definition in order that we can use this to help target support to those who need it most.

7. As part of the Warmer Homes Scotland eligibility review we will consider the development of a fuel poverty assessment tool.

8. We will increase the flexibility of our delivery programmes by actively engaging with councils to identify opportunities to make our national schemes work better locally.

9. We will report annually on the delivery of energy efficiency measures through our programmes, as is currently done through the Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland Delivery Report.

10. We will provide advice and support to householders on ways to save energy and improve access to affordable energy, including by switching suppliers.

11. We will establish a public energy company to contribute to tackling fuel poverty and supporting economic development.

12. We will maximise incomes, through increasing the availability of low carbon jobs in local communities and addressing poverty and inequalities through actions set out in our Fairer Scotland Action Plan.

13. We will build on actions agreed at the cross-Ministerial Summit on Fuel Poverty by continuing to seek opportunities to put in place further actions that can be undertaken across portfolios that will complement the fuel poverty strategy

14. We will undertake a review of delivery of the strategy to 2030 and recommend further necessary action to take to meet the 2040 target and associated sub-targets. This would be undertaken by 2031.

15. To ensure robust and effective governance for monitoring progress and providing additional scrutiny of the Strategy over the period to 2040, we will work with two newly established, independently chaired groups: the Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel; and Partnership Forum.

16. We will work with the Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel to develop an outcomes framework which we will publish in a Final Fuel Poverty Strategy in 2019.

17. We will ensure the long term Strategy takes account of those with lived experience of fuel poverty by consulting with people with experience of fuel poverty when making any regulations under the new Fuel Poverty Act.

18. We will continue to build on and develop emerging and diverse partnerships across various sectors, to ensure we are engaging proactively and effectively with the most relevant organisations and bodies to maximise reach of this strategy and support to those most in need.