Funding to tackle fuel poverty welcomed
4th March 2014
The Highland Council has welcomed funding to enable people living in fuel poverty to make their homes warmer, more environmentally friendly and cheaper to heat.
The amount of £2,055,346 from The Scottish Government for the Home Energy Efficiency Programme for Scotland is the fourth highest allocation in Scotland.
Last October the Council entered into a partnership with E.ON to deliver heavily-subsidised or free energy-saving measures to homeowners in eligible properties in parts of Highland.
Councillor Dave Fallows, chairman of the Council’s Finance, Housing and Resources committee has welcomed the announcement. He said: “This money will allow us to roll-out our project so we can target more fuel poor households and vulnerable families across the Highlands.
“Rising energy bills remain a huge concern for many people, especially those living in hard to heat homes who are having difficulties managing their heating costs. The funding will be used for the installation of energy efficiency measures such as solid wall, cavity and loft insulation which we have found is very effective in cutting fuel bills and reducing heat loss, especially in older hard to treat properties.
“Details on how this new funding will be allocated are still to be made but as a Council we are proud of our association with the Home Energy Efficiency Programme for Scotland which is closely aligned to our commitment of achieving a Carbon CLEVER Highlands by 2025.”
Householders who would like to know more about this and other Scottish Government funded offers can contact the Scottish Government’ s Home Energy Scotland hotline on 0808 808 2282 or visit www.homeenergyscotland.org
Highland Council will be meeting with relevant stakeholders in the coming weeks to assess which areas of Highland would most benefit from this work and how best to maximise energy funding from our partnership with E.ON.
Related Businesses
Related Articles
The Highland Council welcomes moves by the Scottish Government to introduce greater flexibility on how it could design a Visitor Levy Scheme for consultation. The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 currently provides local authorities with discretionary powers to implement percentage-based levies following statutory consultation.
As it looks to set out its forthcoming priorities, the council is seeking involvement from members of the public, including businesses, community groups, parents, and young people. All their opinions are going to be crucial in deciding how Highland Council will take on its budget challenge for 2026-2027.
Thurso is to benefit from £100m investment in education and community facilities and are rolling out the first phase of public consultations on 9 and 10 December 2025. The Highland Council is inviting people that live, work, or study in Thurso, to come along to the public consultation events to have their say; this is an opportunity to help shape the future of Thurso, to gather views and ideas.
A new online portal has been launched to bring empty homeowners together with prospective buyers or developers with the aim of facilitating more properties to be used as homes again. Covering the whole of Scotland, this builds on the success of local pilots, referred to as "matchmaker schemes".
Steps towards introducing a short term let control area have been considered by Highland Council's Isle of Skye and Raasay area committee. On Monday (1 December 2025) the committee heard evidence to justify the grounds for the introduction of a Short Term Let Control Area covering all or part of Skye and Raasay.
EMPLOYERS and educators from across the Highlands have gathered to hear how a new initiative is aiming to transform the region's economy. Workforce North - A Call to Action brought together business leaders and teachers from primary and secondary schools from across the Highland Council area with a wide range of partners geared towards education, learning and skills development at Strathpeffer Pavillion.
The Highland Council continues to call for meaningful engagement from the Home Office over its plans to temporarily accommodate up to 300 adult male asylum seekers at Cameron Barracks, Inverness. It follows an email on Monday from Alex Norris MP, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, to Council Leader, Raymond Bremner, which failed to answer questions raised by the Council or address community concerns.
SSEN Transmission has become the first company to sign up to the Highland Social Value Charter (HSVC), marking a significant milestone in delivering long-term socio-economic benefits for communities across the Highlands. Investment commitments from the company include funding for roads, new homes, jobs, and work for local contractors in addition to a local and regional fund for communities to apply to.
The Highland Council continues to work through the procurement process for the provision of the Wick Public Service Obligation for the Highland Council. We have now entered the preferred bidder stage and have entered a standstill period.
Maps of the Council's gritting routes by priority and policy are available online at www.highland.gov.uk/gritting (external link) The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.