ACE

This letter, signed by ACE Senior Parliamentary Officer Chas Booth, appeared in The Herald on Wednesday 3 February:

A chance to reduce our levels of fuel poverty

As the Scottish Budget reaches its final stage in Parliament today (February 3), MSPs have a chance to make Scotland’s homes low carbon and reduce levels of fuel poverty. Our homes account for nearly one-third of our climate emissions. At the same time, it is estimated that fuel poverty has risen to nearly one in three households.We can help tackle both these problems through a major Scotland-wide home energy efficiency programme – the only way to reach everyone who needs assistance is to work street by street, house by house, offering free loft and cavity wall insulation to all and attractive financing, with grants for those less able to pay, for more expensive measures. This work must be undertaken by trusted installers, so re-skilling local tradespeople in order that they can offer advice and services is essential. At the same time the Energy Assistance Package must be able to respond to fuel poverty needs on a national basis.

We now need to secure a Scottish Budget which funds such a scheme by radically expanding the Home Insulation Scheme and Energy Assistance Package.

Richard Dixon, Director, WWF Scotland Chas Booth, Senior Press and Parliamentary Officer, Association for the Conservation of Energy Duncan MacLaren, Chief Executive, Friends of the Earth Scotland, WWF Scotland Little Dunkeld, Dunkeld.