Multi-million pound fund to help people pay energy bills
What was once an issue about fairness now feels more like an economic necessity
A £4 million support fund has been launched to help Scots struggling with their energy bills during lockdown.
The Scottish Government scheme, which will be administered by consumer advice service Advice Direct Scotland, is designed to prevent households falling into fuel poverty.
Targeted funding will reflect each individual’s circumstances, with extra support available for households where one person is over 75, they rely on electric heating, or live in a remote or island community.
Eligibility is based on households which are ‘self-rationing’ their energy, meaning thosewhoaredeliberatelylimiting their energy use so they can afford to spend money on other goods or services. This could be as a result of home working or home schooling due to the pandemic. In 2019, an estimated 24.6 per
cent of all households were in fuel poverty – around 613,000 households – and the pandemic has increased financial hardship for many.
Heating and electricity bills have gone up for many people due to most of the household working from home or home schooling.
Minister for local government and housing Kevin Stewart said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has had a heavy financial impact on households across Scotland, and affording heating bills is a major concern for many. I am pleased we can make £4m available to
Advice Direct Scotland to offer direct practical help to people concerned about energy debts.
“The Scottish Government has provided a further £16m to improve the energy efficiency of people’s homes, and made available £7m in new funding to support fuel-poor households as part of our £100m Winter Support Package.
“We remain committed to ending fuel poverty and to implementing our Fuel Poverty Act, which sets us ambitious targets for reducing fuel poverty nationwide. Later this year we will be publishing our Fuel Poverty Strategy, which will set out how we intend to meet these targets.” The fund is part of a £100m winter support fund announced in November by the First Minister to help people. Applications can only be accepted from organisations providing energy and/or debt advice.
As Chancellor Rishi Sunak prepares to deliver the UK Government’s Budget tomorrow, it is clear that, for all our current troubles, there is more in the post.
While he is planning to continue to support firms as the lockdown eases, Sunak has to be thinking about how to start paying the staggering bill for the furlough scheme and other forms of state aid, a subject that is going to become one of the major political debates over the next few years not just in Britain but all over the world.
It should be obvious that it is not in anyone’s interest to pull the rug from under businesses that need help to survive the current crisis but have a viable future when life returns to relative normality.
After all, supporting them now will mean greater tax revenue in the future and that will help pay off the government’s debts; failing to do so would reduce revenue while simultaneously increasing the cost of unemployment and other benefits.
It seems likely that taxes will eventually have to go up and public spending may also need to be cut to pay off the national debt, but ministers must make sure this is done in a way that is both smart and fair.
Tax rises tend to have a dampening effect on the economy and adding significant spending cuts would create something of a double whammy – the last thing the country needs as it attempts to get back on its feet.
So, ministers need to take care and look beyond the usual methods of raising revenue – such as straightforward increases to income tax, VAT and corporation tax – to balance the books.
The closing of tax loopholes should be one area to look at. For example, there have long been calls for global internet giants to pay their fair share of taxes in countries where they make vast profits. Some of these firms have prospered during the lockdown as life moved online for many during lockdown.
What was once an issue about fairness now feels more like an economic necessity. As countries all over the world ponder the road to recovery, they need to make sure that everyone is doing their bit and paying their way.