Lib Dem analysis reveals areas worst hit by energy price rise 

By Bill Heaney

The Government appear to be taking us back to the old days when local people used to push old prams out Glasgow Road to the gasworks at Castlegreen and fill them with charcoal to heat their homes.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today laid the blame for the cost-of-living crisis at the door of SNP and Conservative politicians as he accused them of allowing months of opportunities to put in places policies to tackle the crisis to pass them by.

Analysis by the Liberal Democrats using figures from the Scottish Energy Hub reveals that every area of Scotland will see at least a £990 average rise in energy costs compared to December 2020. The worst hit area will be Argyll & Bute which will see prices rise by £1,639 to £3,481. It is followed by the Western Isles (£1,562 rise) and Highland (£1,524).

Today it was announced by Ofgem that the energy price cap is set to rise to £1,971. This price cap limits the rates a supplier can charge for their default tariffs. These include the standing charge and price for each kWh of electricity and gas, However the energy price cap itself doesn’t limit how much you will pay for your bills and people with larger homes or who use more energy will see their bills rise even further.

The Bank of England announced that interest rates will rise to 0.5% and Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced plans for a temporary council tax rebate in England that council taxpayers will have to pay back.

Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “Families are facing a double whammy of soaring energy prices and rising mortgage payments. People will remember this as the day the Conservatives left them out in the cold.

“We need a cost-of-living rescue package to save households on the brink and reassure all those worried about how they’re going to pay the bills. At a UK Government level that should start with scrapping the hated National Insurance tax hike that will kick households when they’re already down.

“Over the past few months, Scottish Liberal Democrats have set out a series of proposals for tackling the cost-of-living crisis from doubling the warms home discount and insulating homes to bring down bills to boosting disability benefits. This crisis can be laid at the door of SNP and Conservative governments who are not even papering over the cracks.”

Ofgem’s guide to to the price cap can be found here

Data on average energy bills for Scotland is available here: Average annual energy bill prices by local authority Scotland, 2020)

A spreadsheet showing average price rises by local authority can be found here. Results have been calculated by taking the price cap in place from October 2020 to March 2021 (£1,042) and comparing to the current cap announced today. Today’s cap is 89% higher which allows us to calculate bills under the new price cap.