McArthur demands serious action on rural fuel poverty

Orkney MSP Liam McArthur says he has once again pressed the Scottish Government to take proper account of the needs of rural and island areas in its Fuel Poverty Bill.

During an evidence session in the Scottish parliament’s local government committee today, Wednesday, Mr McArthur asked housing minister, Kevin Stewart, to include a remote rural minimum income standard as part of the proposed new definition of fuel poverty.

Mr McArthur reiterated concerns from a range of independent experts and organisations that a failure to account for different levels of disposable income in various parts of the country risks undermining efforts to tackle fuel poverty.

Following the exchange, the Liberal Democrat MSP said: “If the Minister is serious about wanting to tackle fuel poverty in rural and island areas, he has to listen to the overwhelming evidence in support of including a remote rural Minimum Income Standard in this Bill.

“As things stand, Mr Stewart’s bill will redefine fuel poverty in such a way as to artificially underestimate the scale of the problem in rural and island communities. That would be outrageous and, as the Committee has heard, fundamentally undermine efforts to target support where it is most needed.

“Orkney has the highest proportion of households in fuel poverty and extreme fuel poverty at present. Unless the Minister agrees to think again ahead of Stage 2 consideration of this bill, that situation is unlikely to change.”