Fuel poverty

Fuel poverty is when you cannot afford to heat your home. This can mean living in a cold, damp house, struggling to pay your fuel bills or both. Tackling fuel poverty is an integral part of the service that local bureaux provide to their communities. The advice and support given to clients with benefits, housing, debt or utility enquiries, has a direct impact on alleviating fuel poverty.

A major concern is the continuing increases in the cost of fuel.  As prices rise, many people are likely to fall back into fuel poverty. Considerable effort and investment is required to increase incomes, reduce fuel costs and improve the energy efficiency of homes across Scotland.

Boiler Scrappage Scheme

The UK Government’s boiler scrappage scheme has recently been introduced to Scotland after the successful launch of the scheme in England. The Scottish Government was persuaded to bring the scheme to Scotland by the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum, of which CAS is a member. The forum was revived in 2008 to help Scotland meet its targets to eradicate fuel poverty, and to liaise with the Fuel Poverty Advisory Group for England, ensuring Scottish interests are fed into reserved policy areas. The scheme will be open to those in privately rented or owned households in Scotland, with funding available to those who wish to replace boilers running at 70% efficiency and less (known as ‘G-rated’) with ‘A-rated’ boilers or alternative renewable heat units. Each eligible household will receive £400 towards the cost of their new heating system and each will save money in the long term by having more efficient heating systems. 

Equality in Rates for ‘Pre-payment Meter’ Customers

In an important step towards alleviating fuel poverty, a major gas supplier has announced that, from the start of February 2010, it will stop charging pre-payment meter customers more for gas or electricity than it charges customers who pay quarterly. This could save £200  or more per year for many low-income households. Pre-payment meters for gas and electricity are most often used by those who have difficulty paying for their power, or those who are in arrears to their supplier. Despite this, customers with pre-payment meters have usually been charged a higher standard price per unit than those paying by direct debit. CAS has campaigned strongly for fairer pricing in pre-payment meters, arguing that those living in fuel poverty are already among the most vulnerable, and should not be charged more than the standard amount.
 

CAS is a member of the Scottish Government's Fuel Poverty Forum.  We are also a board member of Energy Action Scotland, the Scottish charity working for warm, dry homes.

We published a briefing in 2008 on gas and electricity problems which reveals how far companies need to go to improve their complaints handling and offer better protection to vulnerable consumers.