Ministers must take fuel poverty failure seriously
Responding to confirmation from an expert group that the Scottish Government will not meet its 2016 target to eradicate fuel poverty, Andy Wightman, Housing spokesperson for the Scottish Greens and MSP for Lothian, said:
“Greens have long warned of the need to dramatically increase investment in energy efficient housing if we’re to end the national scandal of fuel poverty. In this morning's Local Government committee I urged the Minister to take the failure seriously.
"The ‘record investment’ the Minister talks of - £103million – is actually £15m less than last year’s budget, so the Government’s promise in 2014 that energy efficient housing would become a National Infrastructure Priority has yet to be met with the funding it deserves.
"Greens will continue to push for action so we make our housing stock affordable and easy to heat, and in the process create thousands of lasting jobs in local economies.”