The Scottish Government

FOR SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

Fuel Poverty Programmes

Recommendation 1: Replace existing fuel poverty programmes with an Energy Assistance Package ( EAP) delivered via the ESSac network that addresses both the home and the householder and includes tariff advice, welfare benefit and tax credit advice, and energy audit with access to grants and loans to improve energy efficiency.

Recommendation 2: Join up funding streams to fund the Energy Assistance Package. Both Government-funded and CERT measures should be available through a single point of access (the ESSac network), and could be further augmented through top-up funding or low-interest loans, or equity release, in order to maximise the energy efficiency improvement achieved through a single batch of measures.

Recommendation 3: Explore ways of integrating welfare benefits and tax credits advice into enquiries made to the Energy Saving Scotland Advice Centre network, energy supply companies and government grant programmes.

Recommendation 4: While fuel poverty has distinctive dimensions, it should be part of the broader tackling poverty framework. Within this context grant funding should be targeted at those in greatest need.

Recommendation 5: The Energy Assistance Package should offer a wider range of measures to homes off the gas grid, such as micro-renewables, building on the findings of the Scottish Government Renewables Pilot, micro-generation and community-scale solutions.

Recommendation 6: Insulation measures that are known to work for hard to treat properties should be included as part of the Energy Assistance Package.

Fuel Poverty Definition

Recommendation 7: Provide fuel poverty statistics both including and excluding an enhanced Satisfactory Heating Regime for families with children under 5.

Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum

Recommendation 8: Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum should have an ongoing role in both monitoring programmes and advising Scottish Ministers on further actions required.

Recommendation 9: Membership of the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum should be reviewed to ensure that it is representative of relevant stakeholders.

Recommendation 10: A formal link should be established between the Scottish Forum and the equivalent bodies elsewhere in the UK.

CERT Activity in Scotland

Recommendation 11: Scottish Government should, via the CERT Strategy Group, make Scotland attractive for CERT suppliers to work in, including better access to information and people, in order to maximise the impact of CERT activity on fuel poverty in Scotland.

Local Authorities

Recommendation 12: Local Authorities and Scottish Government should work together to deliver the 2016 target and reflect this in Local Housing Strategies and others where appropriate.

Other Policy Areas

Recommendation 13: Recognition should be given within the Climate Change Bill that an early focus on domestic energy efficiency (ideally with a target and an action plan to deliver it) will yield multiple policy and practical benefits if priority could be given to people in fuel poverty.

Recommendation 14: All emerging carbon reduction schemes and other building-related policy changes (such as building standards, planning policy changes, an obligation to provide renewable heat, and specific measures for the residential sector) should all take into account how they can help reduce fuel poverty.

Energy Efficiency Finance Scheme

Recommendation 15: An Energy Efficiency Finance Scheme consisting of low interest loans should be made available to those more able to pay, and to landlords of those in fuel poverty through the Scheme of Assistance. Loans could either be paid back from energy savings or at point of sale of the property.

Level of Scottish Government Funding for Fuel Poverty

Recommendation 16: At the next spending round there needs to be a significant increase in the level of Government investment devoted to tackling fuel poverty.

Recommendation 17: If additional money from other sources can be found over the next two years (including underspend from other budgets and any new money from Barnett consequentials), this should be directed to additional interventions for fuel poor households under stage four of the Energy Assistance Package.

Recommendation 18: Consideration should be given to bulk purchasing by Government on behalf of fuel poor customers.

FOR THE WESTMINSTER GOVERNMENT

Recommendation 19: The UK Government should ensure that social tariffs to vulnerable fuel poor customers are mandatory and that the minimum standards are strengthened, particularly around clarity of eligibility criteria from each company.

Recommendation 20: Government should ensure that social tariffs are offered on a basis that is proportionate with market share and is the lowest tariff offered regardless of payment method.

Recommendation 21: Carbon savings via CERT should be revised to reflect impacts in Scotland, taking account of actual Scottish housing stock differences and carbon outputs to make sure that islands and remote areas are not excluded from benefiting from CERT measures. There should also be allowance for increased carbon savings based on geography and harsher climate; information which is readily available.

Recommendation 22:DWP should share data with energy companies to allow targeting of social tariffs and energy efficiency advice, extending currently agreed data sharing to benefit all low income households vulnerable to fuel poverty.

Recommendation 23: Smart meters should be rolled out to fuel poor and other customers as soon as possible.

Recommendation 24: The UK Government work with energy suppliers and Ofgem to end the practice, adopted by some energy companies, of charging more for PPMs for those customers in or vulnerable to fuel poverty, legislating if required.

Recommendation 25: A thorough review of both Cold Weather Payments and Winter Fuel Payments is required to ensure a better fit with fuel poverty. This should consider the following: less restrictive criteria for Cold Weather Payments; extending Winter Fuel Payments to low income families and other vulnerable groups; payments to be weighted for different regions; payment in the spring rather than December; and a discount from energy bills rather than the current payment system.

Recommendation 26: The DWP should 'warm transfer' all enquiries re cold weather payment to the Energy Saving Scotland Advice Centre network for energy efficiency advice.

Recommendation 27: Benefit and tax credit rates and eligibility should be reviewed and uprated, to take account of rising energy costs and the need to minimise fuel poverty.

FOR ENERGY COMPANIES

Recommendation 28: Social Insurance and Maintenance contracts for maintaining and renewing boilers for fuel poor customers should be explored. Funding within the energy companies' social spend might be one source for this.

Recommendation 29: Energy companies should explore the business case and delivery options for leasing carbon reducing technologies to customers.

Recommendation 30: Energy companies should be willing to integrate CERT within the holistic approach of the Energy Assistance Package, including use of Flexibility to contribute to Stage 4 measures where this is cost effective.

Recommendation 31: Energy suppliers should each ensure that their social tariffs have clear eligibility criteria, and are widely publicised and accessible to all who need the information.

Recommendation 32: Energy companies should provide that fuel poor customers will not pay more for using a PPM.

FOR OFGEM

Most of the following would require action by the UK Government to change the framework within which Ofgem operates.

Recommendation 33:Ofgem should gather Scottish CERT statistics separately and monitor where CERT is spent.

Recommendation 34:Ofgem should explore the overall redistributive impact of CERT between fuel poor and non-fuel poor customers in Scotland.

Recommendation 35:Ofgem should monitor the impacts of CERT on fuel poverty, as well as the carbon impacts, and report on what is spent under social initiatives in Scotland. Carbon savings under CERT should be assessed taking into account geography and climate.

Recommendation 36:Ofgem should work with the UK Government to ensure that social tariffs are mandatory with minimum standards that provide clear eligibility criteria.

Recommendation 37:Ofgem should play a role in ensuring that fuel poor PPM customers do not pay more and consider regulation if this is not addressed. With energy companies, Ofgem should review debt collection strategies in light of rising prices.

Recommendation 38: The Ofgem market probe should include robust proposals for tackling any disadvantage it finds for customers in general and fuel poor customers in particular.