Fuel Poverty: Scottish Government response to working group reports

Conclusion

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling fuel poverty and we welcome the reports of the Strategic Working Group and the Rural Fuel Poverty Task Force and their recommendations for how we might address this issue going forward.

We want our new fuel poverty strategy to tackle poverty and inequality - that includes ensuring rural households can expect the same support that is offered to householders in urban areas. We also agree that the new strategy must not only address the four drivers of fuel poverty, but be person-centred and go beyond improving the energy efficiency of buildings.

In order to address many of the recommendations set out by the groups, we will work with partners at both a national and local level. We are not starting from scratch, but we will build on the achievements we have made to date which have led to over a million measures having been installed in over a million homes since 2008. We believe partnership working will ensure the successful delivery of our existing and emerging programmes, and will have a crucial role in the development of a new fuel poverty strategy.

The Fuel Poverty Forum will play an important role in this partnership working including monitoring progress on tackling fuel poverty and taking forward the actions set out in this response and holding Scottish Government and our delivery partners to account for their delivery.

Timeline

Further detail on key milestones over the coming year are set out below.

February - Summer 2017
Review of fuel poverty definition including gathering evidence and consulting with stakeholders

Spring - October/November 2017
Preparation of draft Fuel Poverty eradication strategy

Autumn 2017
Publication of draft eradication strategy for consultation - this will include plans for Warm Homes Bill legislation