HUNDREDS of thousands of Scots who do not qualify for Liz Truss's energy bills freeze because they use alternative fuels are to get just £100 towards their increased costs, it can be revealed.
Details of what has been described as "an energy price betrayal" have emerged after the UK Government stepped in with an Energy Price Guarantee which will mean a typical UK household will from Saturday pay up to an average £2,500 a year on their energy bill for the next two years.
The fuel bill freeze means that the typical bill will still be double the amount paid last winter.
Concerns have been raised that those that living in areas not serviced by the gas grid, which is the primary heating fuel for over 80% of Scotland, are not compensated for losing out on the bills freeze.
It has been confirmed by Graham Stuart, UK minister of state for climate that the UK government is offering an additional payment of just £100 to those who are not able to receive support for their heating costs through the Energy Price Guarantee "because they live in areas of the UK that is not served by the gas grid".
The £100 is to compensate for the rising costs of alternative fuels, such as heating oil.
Fair energy prices campaigner Kenny MacAskill, the MP the for East Lothian and Alba Party deputy leader who got the response from the minister said: “£100 is an insult compared with the soaring price of unregulated fuel which has gone through the roof with the price of heating oil alone having tripled over the last year. It is a wholly inadequate level of compensation for people who are not covered by the Ofgem energy price cap."
It is estimated that 17 per cent of households in Scotland, nearly 420,000 are not connected to the gas mains and 217,000, use fuels other than mains gas or electricity to heat their homes.
Around 129,000 in the country use heating oil as their primary source of heating fuel, the price of which has shot up more than 230% in the last two years, from £0.31 a litre to £1.05.
Houses which are off the mains gas and use domestic heating oil, LPG or solid fuel to meet their energy needs are seen as part of the “hidden impact” of the cost of living crisis.
The figures show that homes protected by the price cap that limits the rise on prices had seen their energy bills rise by 97.5 per cent in the last year, while those who fall outside the cap have faced a 164 cent increase in the same period.
Mr MacAskill, a former Scottish justice secretary has now called for a rethink saying: “This is an energy price betrayal and shows how out of touch this government is from the real needs of the people especially in rural, remote and island communities – many of whom have a reliance on unregulated fuels through no fault of their own, usually because they are off the gas grid.
“It fails to take into account the dire financial circumstances families are facing with sky rocketing energy bills.
“It shows where this government’s true priorities lie – tax cuts for the rich, lifting the cap on bankers bonuses and a pathetic pittance for people in real need.”
There had been further concerns over whether off-grid houses can even qualify for the £400 energy rebate announced by the UK government over the winter in the cost of living crisis.
A government response to a consultation exercise into the energy bills support scheme (EBSS) , through which households are given £400 towards their bills from October, admitted there was a problem for households without a domestic energy supply contract.
The document from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from July stated: “Evidence suggests up to 400,000 would not receive EBSS support due to these circumstances compared with approximately 29 million that will.”
Thousands have signed an online petition was launched calling for all households who live off-grid to qualify equally under the scheme.
Ruth London of Fuel Poverty Action said: "It is extraordinary that they can discriminate that way. This doesn't go anywhere near what people have to pay.
"You shouldn't be worse off when off grid. People in the countryside are being punished for living there."
Di Alexander, chairman of the Highlands & Islands Housing Associations Affordable Warmth Group and former chair of the Scottish Government’s Rural Fuel Poverty Task Force said the £100 was a "flea bite" adding: It is nowhere near enough."
It comes as the Prime Minister was urged to publicly state that “nobody” will pay more than £2,500 for their annual energy bill as the new price cap kicks in tomorrow (Sat).
During a round of interviews Liz Truss repeatedly raised her recently announced energy price guarantee limiting the average bill to £2,500.
However the Government’s plan only caps the cost per unit that households pay, with actual bills still determined by how much energy is consumed.
According to Government figures, the typical bill for a detached house under the price freeze will be £3,330, £2,650 for a typical semi-detached house and £1,750 for someone living in a purpose-built flat.
Fact checking charity Full Fact said it wrote to Ms Truss on Wednesday to stress that “it is vital the public have accurate information about energy bills in the context of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis”.
Full Fact chief executive Will Moy said: “We wrote to the Prime Minister about getting this wrong only yesterday. The Government’s energy plans will affect every household in Britain this winter. And yet Liz Truss has repeatedly misled listeners this morning.
“She must now publicly correct her mistake to make sure people are not misled about their energy prices and hit with unexpected and unaffordable energy bills this winter.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel