Orkney reaches the top of the fuel poverty table

Orkney has risen to the top of Scotland’s fuel poverty league table, with 63 per cent of households now defined as being fuel poor.

New figures have also revealed that for pensioner households in the county, the fuel poverty rate has risen to 85 per cent.

In the Western Isles, the figure remains at 62 per cent, while the next highest figure for pensioners is in Shetland, at 76 per cent.

A household is in fuel poverty if, in order to maintain a satisfactory heating regime, it would be required to spend more than ten per cent of its income (including Housing Benefit or Income Support for Mortgage Interest) on all household fuel use.

The figures, from the Scottish House Condition Survey 2012-2014, were greeted with dismay by THAW (Tackling Household Affordable Warmth) Orkney board members and staff, coming just days after the official launch of its new service.

Chairman, Peter Rickard, said: “Our goal of achieving affordable warmth for households throughout the islands is clearly an uphill one.

“These figures do not make pleasant reading, coming a day after SSE, the most prevalent energy supplier in the county, signalled that there would be no imminent price cut for its electricity customers to match their 5.3 per cent cut for gas customers.

“Fuel poverty figures for Orkney have rocketed in recent years. Going back to 2002, it was 31 per cent and then 40 per cent in 2008. The massive hike to the 63 per cent we see now can largely be explained by the significant increases in electricity costs over the same period, with prices having risen by 180 per cent between 2002 and 2013.

“The fuel poverty rate for 2014 would have been around 9.5 per cent – instead of 35 per cent – if fuel prices had only risen in line with inflation between 2002 and 2014. This would obviously translate to a significant decrease in fuel poverty levels in Orkney.”