18th March 2026
The Scottish Government will make available an additional £5.4 million to support lower income households dependent on oil to heat their home from next month, Energy Secretary Gillian Martin has said.
The Scottish Emergency Oil Heating Scheme will launch on April 1 - with full details of eligibility criteria and routes to apply to be made public in the coming days.
Around 6% of households in Scotland rely on alternative fuels, with rural and island areas disproportionately affected. It is estimated that approximately 142,000 Scottish households use heating oil.
Energy Secretary Gillian Martin said, "Since the conflict in the Middle East erupted, we have been calling on the UK Government to take action on spiralling oil prices. It is disappointing that the Prime Minister has been slow to act.
"While welcome, the limited support announced by the UK Government yesterday equates to only £33 per household using oil heating. This does not go far enough.
"That is why the Scottish Government is announcing today we will more than double the amount available to support Scottish households struggling with heating oil prices. We will commit an additional £5.4 million on top of the £4.6 million allocated by the UK Government.
"Our scheme will launch in the coming weeks and be delivered through Advice Direct Scotland. We will announce further details around eligibility as soon as possible."
Comment
Whilst some extra money is useful even combined with the UK money it will still not allow many people to switch on their oil heating unless they cut back on many other things. For many older people who were brought up living in a house with one coal fire it is not so difficult to workout what to do. This writer is in his late 70s - seen it before and took actions like his parents did. Coping comes naturally to many older people so lets not get too morbid it. Hopefully the extra help will be targeted at the very vulnerable (all pensioners are not). A more robust control over heating oil price might be more useful in future so that price don't go up at any given crisis.