6 APRIL 2010
IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SNP SELL SCOTLAND SHORT ON HEATING PROGRAMME

Dumfries MSP Elaine Murray has accused the SNP of ‘selling Scotland short’ after it emerged that less than half of the budget for providing help for pensioners and disabled people with heating systems has been spent.

A Parliamentary question from a Labour colleague showed that only £24.8m has been spent from the Fuel Poverty budget of £50.6m with only one month to go.

Elaine Murray MSP said: "Scottish Labour's central heating programme provided over 100,000 homes with new central heating systems. The SNP replaced it with their own scheme which has only spent half of its funds with only days to go.

“The problems with the SNP’s Energy Assistance Package have been clear for months. I’ve raised this issue time and again in Parliament and in the press in the hope it would push the SNP to do more but their inaction has let Scots down. The only responses I have received from the SNP are weak attempts to excuse their failure.

“After one of the coldest winters on record this is nothing short of a disgrace. As temperatures plummeted the SNP should have been getting more of our elderly and vulnerable into warm homes, not slamming on the brakes and slashing installations.

“Of course, this is the same SNP Government that is for some bizarre reason waiting until almost summer before introducing the boiler scrappage scheme – a scheme that has already been operating in England for months.”

ENDS

NOTES

24 March 2010        

Index Heading: Health and Wellbeing

 Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive  how much of the £60 million allocated to the Energy Assistance Package was spent by the end of February 2010.

(S3W-32301)

Mr Alex Neil MSP :

The following table shows the spend to the end of February for the various elements of the £60 million package of support, as set out in my answer to question
S3W-21692 on 1 April 2009. As Minister for Housing and Communities I have responsibility for the Fuel Poverty Budget and anticipate that the budget for 2009-10 will be spent. I will of course, report the out turn figures in due course.

 
 Budget 2009-10Spend to 28 February 2010
Fuel Poverty budget (including additional £3.6 million for running the ESSac network, and £2.5 million for local authorities and registered social landlords to fund social sector Stage 3 measures)£50.6 million£24.8 million
Current £3.9 million for running the Energy Savings Scotland Advice Centre (ESSac) network.£3.9 million£3.2 million
Achieving our Potential budget, formerly Tackling poverty£2.5 million£1.2 million
Energy Savings Scotland Home Renewables Grant (formerly known as the Scottish Communities and Households Renewables Initiative)£3.5 million£1.9 million

 
All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE