Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey demands the Warm Home Discount is immediately doubled and expanded to reach thousands of Highlanders suffering from fuel poverty as he warns 'we are in one of the worst energy crises I can ever remember'
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
The leader of the UK Lib Dems, Sir Ed Davey, has issued a call for immediate action to support thousands of Highlanders faced with fuel poverty through a massive uplift in the Warm Homes Discount.
Speaking to the Inverness Courier while visiting Dingwall, Sir Ed warned: “We are in one of the worst energy crises I can ever remember.”
With many in the region already suffering from often unrecognised fuel poverty, Sir Ed said the time for action was now – a move that is likely to be welcomed in the Highlands as the coldest and wettest region of mainland Britain.
Under the plan put forward by the Lib Dems, the Warm Home Discount would be doubled to £280 and those on Savings Credit (people with an income of £153-a-week) would be guaranteed the discount too.
That means in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey that would be 2047 – up from 1696; in Ross, Skye and Lochaber 1731 people would get the £280 this winter – up from 1413; and in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross 1877 would get the cash – up from 1548.
That comes to just under £1.6 million to support more than 5300 people across the Highlands.
“I think people in fuel poverty, people who depend on oil or gas for their heating are going to have serious problems and what I’ve called for Warm Home Discount should be doubled and the eligibility should be extended,” Sir Ed said.
“While I’d prefer the Conservatives not to cut Universal Credit at this time, which is just outrageous, the Warm Home Discount is quite a bit of money to support those in the most vulnerable households, in fuel poverty, and it’s something they could do.
“They could do that now, and target significant amounts of money to reassure people, deeply worried about their fuel bills. I’m going to keep banging on the drum because I’m worried that there’ll be people who won’t put the heating on over the winter and that’s just going to be just tragic.”
Sir Ed also took aim at what he called the SNP’s “crazy agenda” to create a centralised national care service, saying the plan would create more bureaucracy, not better social care.
Having spent much of his life as a carer himself, Sir Ed said the new service would deprive local communities of decision-making powers and that “once the control and budgets are all in Edinburgh, the Highlands are an afterthought”.
The national care service idea emerged from an independent report which recommended making Scottish Government ministers responsible for it through the creation of a centralised service.
Sir Ed said: “As a leader who’s been a carer for much of my life, in different guises, it’s something I feel very strongly about, and I talk to Jamie Stone [MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross] about it who’s a carer himself.
“The idea you do it through centralisation is just a nonsense. You can improve salaries, you can improve the number of carers we have – which is all critical to
quality – but you don’t have to nationalise it. I think this is a crazy agenda.
“Local people and local communities are better placed to work out the care needs of their area, it will need resources and we’re not going to pretend there is some sort of cheap option.
“But by centralising it means there’s going to be a lot spent on bureaucracy. If local councils have the resources and they’re confident they can deliver care, that must be the better way.”
