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Highland households are paying more for fuel – The Scottish Government considers a household to be in fuel poverty if, after housing costs, more than 10 per cent of its income is required to pay for reasonable fuel needs and the remaining money is insufficient to maintain an “acceptable standard of living”


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The Highlands was among the highest areas for extreme fuel poverty.
The Highlands was among the highest areas for extreme fuel poverty.

Here are some important questions and answers about fuel poverty in the region.

What is fuel poverty?

The Scottish Government considers a household to be in fuel poverty if, after housing costs, more than 10 per cent of its income is required to pay for reasonable fuel needs and the remaining money is insufficient to maintain an “acceptable standard of living”. If more than 20 per cent of the remaining income is required, the household is considered to be facing extreme fuel poverty.

What are the fuel poverty rates for the Highlands?

Figures published by the Scottish Government this year for the period 2017-2019 reveal the Highlands had the second highest rate – 33 per cent – of all Scotland’s local authorities. The national average for Scotland is 24 per cent.

Seven local authorities had significantly higher fuel poverty rates than the national average – Western Isles (40 per cent), Highland (33 per cent), Argyll and Bute (32 per cent), Moray (32 per cent), Dundee City (31 per cent), Shetland Islands (31 per cent) and Orkney Islands (31 per cent). East Renfrewshire had the lowest rate at 13 per cent.

What about extreme fuel poverty rates?

Again, the Highlands was among the highest with 22 per cent deemed to fall into this category.

Seven local authorities recorded significantly higher extreme fuel poverty rates than the national average of 12 per cent.

They are Western Isles (24 per cent), Highland (22 per cent), Orkney Islands (22 per cent), Shetland Islands (22 per cent), Highland (22 per cent), Argyll and Bute (19 per cent), Moray (19 per cent) and Perth and Kinross (18 per cent).

The lowest rates were in East Renfrewshire, Midlothian and North Lanarkshire which all recorded seven per cent.

Why are the Highlands hit by fuel bill inequality?

Households in the Highlands pay more for their fuel with average bills totalling £1759 for dual fuel and £2276 for electricity only. The figure for dual fuel nationally is £1138. A big factor is that many rural areas do not have access to mains gas and have to rely much more heavily on electricity. Mains gas costs 4p a unit but electricity 18p a unit which means a huge difference in fuel bills.

What about other factors?

Weather – greater exposure to cold, wind and wind-driven rain – makes houses more prone to rapid heat loss and serious fabric defects. Proportionately there are more older, detached, larger houses in poorer condition and with hard-to-heat and hard-to-treat features like solid walls, attic roofs and extensions.

Figures show that 54 per cent of the housing stock in remote rural Scotland is poorly insulated compared to the rest of Scotland where it is 10 per cent. Figures also show that almost all households in Scotland (96 per cent) have a full central heating system. However, the rate in the Highlands is 89 per cent.

What next?

The Scottish Parliament passed an Act in 2019, setting statutory targets so that in 2040 no more than five per cent of households should be in fuel poverty and no more than one per cent of households should be in extreme fuel poverty. Scottish ministers are required to produce a comprehensive strategy.

End the Chill campaign.
End the Chill campaign.

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