Press Release
Meeting to discuss Fuel Poverty in Shetland
Representatives from Shetland Islands Council will meet with MSP Tavish Scott and Alex Neil, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment in Edinburgh on Tuesday (1 November) to discuss the issue of fuel poverty in Shetland.
Councillors Cecil Smith and Allison Duncan will be joined by Shetland’s Member for the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYP) Emily Shaw and the Council’s Executive Managers for Housing, Anita Jamieson and Environmental Health and Trading Standards, Maggie Dunne.
The meeting has been arranged by Tavish Scott to raise awareness of Shetland’s unique circumstances and to ensure that any funding opportunities provided by the Scottish Government are flexible enough to meet local conditions in Shetland.
More than a third of all households in Shetland (35%) were living in Fuel Poverty for the period 2007/09, according to Scottish figures. 13% of households in Shetland were living in Extreme Fuel Poverty. The continuing rise in fuel prices since this time means that these figures are now likely to be higher.
Councillor Smith is pleased to have this opportunity to express his concerns regarding this issue:
“Levels of fuel poverty in Shetland are on the increase and this will have a negative impact on our communities. We believe our climate, the cost of fuel and our traditional housing make our circumstances unique and national schemes tend to lack flexibility and are often not appropriate to Shetland.
“We want to ensure that any money we receive will have the greatest impact on achieving energy efficiency, reducing energy bills for households and reducing fuel poverty”.
Anyone experiencing difficulties paying their energy bills is encouraged to contact the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) on 694696 or Hjaltland Housing Association’s One-Stop-Shop on 741368. The One-Stop-Shop is able to assist people with energy efficiency advice and provide information on funding available.