A Scotland without fuel poverty is a fairer Scotland: report

Appendix 1: Scottish Fuel Poverty Strategic Working Group

Membership

The Strategic Working Group ( SWG) is chaired by Professor David Sigsworth and has 12 members. These individuals were chosen for their expertise and knowledge of fuel poverty and related issues such as health, economic development, and delivery of energy efficiency programmes. The membership includes:

David Sigsworth OBE - Chair of the Fuel Poverty Strategic Working Group. Previously he was the chair of the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum, and chair of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. He is also a member of the Scottish Government's Strategic Energy Advisory Board.

Teresa Bray - Chief Executive, Changeworks. Teresa has worked in the third sector for 25 years working with the National Housing Federation and SCVO before taking on her role at Changeworks.

Donna Burnett - Organisational Lead, Income and Work, NHS Health Scotland. Donna worked in employability for 25 years before moving to public health in 2009. She has served on a number of Boards and Management Committees over the years, most recently, the Board of Management for South Lanarkshire College from 2006 to 2016.

Tony Cain - Policy Manager, Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers. Tony has worked at director level in a local authority covering strategic control of customer service, equalities, internet communications and advice.

Marion Davis - Policy & Research Advisor at One Parent Families Scotland. Marion has 30 years' experience working in the voluntary sector, in various roles including community development, welfare rights, marketing and communication, project management, senior management and policy & research.

Alan Ferguson - Chair, Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum. Alan is the Director of SHARE and former director of the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland. Alan has worked in housing policy, campaigning, and education.

Gordon Grant - Expert Independent Advisor. Gordon gives advice to business on change management, industrial relations and the petrochemical and energy industry in general. He was formerly Site Director of INEOS Grangemouth Ltd.

Ade Kearns - Professor of Urban Studies, University of Glasgow. Ade has conducted policy-related research into a wide range of housing, neighbourhood and urban issues and is the Principal Investigator for the GoWell research and learning programme, examining the health and wellbeing impacts of housing-led regeneration.

Norman Kerr OBE - Director, Energy Action Scotland. Norman is also Deputy Chair of the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum and was a member of the Scottish Rural Fuel Poverty Task Force.

Trisha McAuley OBE - Independent Consumer Expert. Trisha is a consumer expert, a non-executive director and a management consultant. She was formerly the Senior Director for Scotland of Consumer Futures. Trisha has twenty years' experience as a senior leader in consumer affairs in Scotland and the UK, developing consumer policy and advising government, regulators, service providers and businesses.

Craig Salter - Policy Officer, Citizens Advice Scotland. Craig has taken forward work by the Consumer Futures Unit of Citizens Advice Scotland on addressing fuel poverty in Scotland. His experience centres on embedding consumer principles and promoting consumer protections in government policy and throughout the energy industry, as a fundamental tenet of addressing fuel poverty.

Elizabeth Leighton - Expert Independent Consultant, policy advisor to group. Elizabeth provides research and policy advice on housing, fuel poverty, energy efficiency and climate change issues. She is the secretariat to the Existing Homes Alliance Scotland and chairs the Climate Challenge Fund Grants Panel.

Christine McArthur, Energy Action Scotland, Secretariat. Christine has worked at Energy Action Scotland in various administrative roles for 29 years.

In addition, two individuals were co-opted onto subgroups of the SWG:

Alex Hilliam - Principal Behaviour Change Researcher, Changeworks. Alex has experience of a range of behaviour change techniques and has specific experience in the use of the Scottish Government's ISM (Individual, Social and Material) tool.

Liz Marquis - Director, Energy Agency. Liz has been directly involved with improving energy use and insulation for those in fuel poverty in Scotland for 18 years. She is also Vice Convener of Energy Action Scotland.

Remit

The Scottish Fuel Poverty Strategic Working Group's remit was agreed at its first meeting on 27 November 2015. The remit is summarised here:

The group should set out a vision for the eradication of fuel poverty in Scotland, and the main output of the group's work should be a report outlining a new fuel poverty programme. The scope would include recommendations on targets, scrutiny, and delivery, addressing all causes of fuel poverty. It should discuss the principles of the programme in terms of funding and the level of ambition in terms of energy performance. It should also consider what other policies or regulation would complement a fuel poverty programme, for example on minimum standards of energy performance.

Given the new opportunities afforded by the NIP and the development of the Scottish Energy Efficiency Programme ( SEEP), a particular focus should be shaping the design of SEEPS in terms of fuel poverty interests. The same applies to new devolved powers which are only now becoming clear, and how they might be used to eradicate fuel poverty.