Call to eradicate fuel poverty

The Scottish Government has been urged to be more ambitious in its efforts to tackle fuel poverty by pledging to eradicate the problem entirely by 2032.

The current target is to reduce the number of households affected by fuel poverty – those who have to spend more than 10 per cent of their income on energy bills – to 5 per cent by 2040. The issue is affecting almost a quarter of all homes in Scotland, and Scottish Labour have insisted more needs to be done.

The party pledged to bring forward amendments to the Fuel Poverty Bill, currently being considered by MSPS.

But Kevin Stewart, minister for local government, housing and planning, said: “We are setting clear, ambitious targets in the Fuel Poverty Bill and have a strategy to reach them. We want to work towards credible targets that can be reached and not ones that are set up to fail.”