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.