Opposition united on fuel poverty

Holyrood’s opposition parties are bidding to force the Scottish Government to take tougher action on fuel poverty.

Tory housing spokesman Graham Simpson, Labour’s Alex Rowley, who speaks on communities, Green ener- gy spokesman Mark Ruskell and his Lib Dem counterpart Liam Mcarthur have sent a joint letter to housing minister Kevin Stewart demanding action. As part of that, they say the Scottish Government’s forthcoming Warm Homes Bill should include a new target date for the eradication of fuel poverty, after the previous goal of achieving this by November 2016 was missed.

Around 30 per cent of all Scottish households are affected by the problem.