by Bill Heaney
Snow was falling outside the Scottish Parliament on the slopes of Arthur’s Seat when SNP MSP Karen Adam asked the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to support those affected by fuel poverty “in light of the recent rise in energy prices and their potential impact on the cost of living for households in Scotland”.
First Minister John Swinney told her: “The Scottish Government delivers the strongest package of winter heating support available anywhere in the United Kingdom. We continue to use the powers available to us to raise incomes and improve energy efficiency, including increasing funding for warmer homes Scotland, investing more than £196 million in winter heating benefits and providing a further £1 million this year to expand energy bill debt advice services.
“However, the main levers for addressing fuel poverty, such as energy pricing and market reform, are reserved [to Westminster]. We have repeatedly called on the UK Government to introduce targeted bill discounts to reduce the number of households in fuel poverty by around 135,000.”
MSPs Audrey Nicoll and Karen Adams pleading for constituents in fuel poverty.
As her constituents cooried in around their 21st century inglenooks, Karen Adam told MSPs: “I commend
the measures that the First Minister outlined and am proud that, at a time when people are struggling, this Scottish National Party Government is providing a stronger package of winter support than is available anywhere else in the UK.
“The Labour Party promised to cut energy bills by £300, but households are almost £200 worse off. Any Scottish politician worth their salt should be demanding better for Scotland. While the UK Government continues to deliver nothing but broken promises, does the First Minister agree that it is only through independence that we can prioritise Scotland’s interests and actually reduce energy bills?”
The First Minister said: “Karen Adam makes the strong point that although the people of Scotland were promised a reduction in their fuel bills by the Labour Government, their fuel bills have gone up. That is another broken promise from the Labour Government.
“Ms Adam is also right that, in Scotland, an energy-rich country, her constituents and others are facing fuel poverty because the energy wealth of Scotland is not being deployed to benefit the people of Scotland. The only way that that can happen is with independence, and this party [the SNP] is going to deliver that.”
Her SNP colleague Audrey Nicoll from Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, which were hit by by blizzards sweeping across the Mearns, said: “This week’s severe weather has seen the UK’s power demand reach a seven-year high as households struggle to keep warm through the winter storms.
“In energy-rich Scotland, that power demand sits alongside skyrocketing energy bills as families pay through the nose to heat their homes.
“Does the First Minister agree that the sooner Scotland’s energy is in the hands of Scotland’s people, the better that will be for lower bills, economic growth and meaningful community ownership?”
The First Minister replied: “Audrey Nicoll makes the very important point that we live in an energy-rich country but that we also live in a country with a high level of fuel poverty, as a result of the decisions of the United Kingdom energy market.
“Audrey Nicoll is absolutely right: the sooner those issues are in the hands of the people of Scotland so that we can make the energy wealth of Scotland work for the benefit of the people of Scotland, the better.”
