Scottish Government cuts fuel poverty funding

The Scottish Government has revealed that it is to cut investment in tackling fuel poverty in an attempt to plug the gap in its capital spending budgets.

Earlier this year, First Minister Alec Salmond announced the introduction of a £50m Warm Homes Fund, aimed at improving heating for Scotland's fuel poor communities. It was proposed the Fund would not only support the establishment of renewable power generation, but also allow communities to generate an income from any surplus energy produced.

However, following a query from the Conservative economy spokesperson, Gavin Brown MSP, the Government has acknowledged that it intends diverting funding away from this towards infrastructure projects.

Age Scotland Policy Officer, Greg McCracken said: "The Warm Homes Fund was only established in May this year, and taking money away from it so early in the parliamentary session unfortunately shows exactly how much of a priority tackling fuel poverty is on this Government's agenda.

"We warmly welcomed the establishment of the Fund, which we hoped would enable some of our poorest communities to tackle the challenges of rising energy prices. And whilst we understand the Government has a difficult balancing act, given its stretched resources, this cut sends the wrong message about its commitment to meeting its legal obligation to eradicate fuel poverty by 2015."
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