Achi news desk-
New figures from research among members of the Union of Social Workers have found that around 40.32% of members surveyed in Scotland have seen children living in conditions with excessive levels of mould.
Ministers have come under fire for failing to deliver on promises to end fuel poverty after it hit a 12-year high with over one in three now affected despite government moves to support the most vulnerable in the cost of living crisis.
Scottish Government modeling under Ofgem’s energy price cap, seen by The Herald, estimates that around 840,000 households in Scotland will suffer from fuel poverty from January to March, 2024. That’s around 34% of homes.
It comes as ministers set the seal on the cancellation of the £30 million Fuel Uncertainty Fund, described last year by prime minister Humza Yousaf MSP as a “vital cascade” for thousands of struggling households.
It came after a previous pledge was made to ensure that by November 2016, “as far as is reasonably practicable, people are not living in fuel poverty in Scotland”.
The Scottish Government set a target that, in the year 2040, no more than 5% of households would be in fuel poverty.
The new letter, which is coordinated by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition and Energy Action Scotland, warns that the crisis is even worse among the most vulnerable.
New figures from research among members of the Union of Social Workers found that 69% of social workers in Scotland have seen the people they support living in cold damp homes.
The study carried out between January 25, and February 12 found that 43.55% had seen vulnerable people living in conditions with excessive levels of mould.
And 77.42% of social workers surveyed found that the people they supported had turned off their heating to save money.
Energy regulator Ofgem, which sets the cap on bill prices, said that from 1 April, the average household paying by direct debit for dual fuel (gas and electricity) would pay £1,690 a year, a reduction of £238 from the previous cap. .
But although energy costs may have fallen during 2024, they remain 62% higher than in 2021 when the cap was at £1042.
The letter says the health complications of mold could be serious: “Everyone remembers the tragic case of Awaab Ishak, but people young and old, with disabilities or with a range of health conditions are at risk.”
Two-year-old Awaab Ishak died in December 2020 from a respiratory condition caused by “extensive” mold in the one-bedroom flat where he lived with his parents, Faisal Abdullah and Aisha Amin, in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
Fuel poverty relates to households that have to spend a high proportion of their household income to keep their home at a reasonable temperature. It is affected by three key factors – household income, their fuel costs, and their energy use, which in turn is affected by the home’s energy efficiency.
In Scotland, it means that, after housing costs, the total fuel costs required to maintain a satisfactory heating regime are more than 10% of the household’s total taxable income.
The campaigners have demanded that MSPs from all parties unite to support a Heat in Buildings Bill which is “ambitious in its vision for improving the energy efficiency and insulation of the nation’s homes and which includes a clear fuel poverty duty which has to include in the legislation”.
They hope the current Housing Bill will improve tenants’ rights and provide tenants with financial protections during the ongoing cost of living crisis.
They want additional support from the Government in future budgets and legislation to help households cope with the cost of living crisis.
And they want to reintroduce the Fuel Uncertainty Fund to help at least those most at risk of harm and struggling with energy debt.
They say the new Pension Age Winter Heating Payment should be “fundamentally better targeted than the Winter Fuel Payment it replaces”.
And they want “a stronger framework of support for the renewable energy and offshore wind sectors and the fastest possible ‘just turnover’ for the oil and gas sector, as described in the Draft Energy Strategy and Transition Plan Righteous.
The letter has been fueled by concerns that there could be a question mark over some of the important parts of the Bute House Agreement which would have helped alleviate the energy crisis leading to elements being removed or weakened by a new First Minister in an attempt to break from the past.
It states: “We urge you to put politics aside and support the Scottish Government to take the necessary steps to help those in fuel poverty and to ensure that every household can access affordable energy in the future.
“Failure to do so will see households in Scotland condemned to spend more winters in cold damp moldy homes. The effects of this will be felt not only in the suffering of families and individuals, but also on the NHS and the collective mental health of communities. .”
Warm This Winter, the campaigning coalition backed by leading anti-poverty and environmental organizations found towards the end of last year that around two in three (61%) Scots are having to cut back on essential spending to afford their energy bills – with campaigners saying that in some cases this will not even be enough to avoid living in cold and damp homes.
Warm This Winter spokeswoman Fiona Waters said: “Humza Yousaf’s resignation shows once again how politicians who are so caught up in power struggles are failing ordinary people that they have neglected the needs of the public.
“What really matters to voters is the cost of living crisis driven by high energy bills that continue to place unbearable pressure on millions of homes across the country.
“We need governments in every country that will prioritize fixing our broken energy system by moving us off expensive oil and gas and onto cheap home-grown renewable energy and by properly insulating our leaky housing stock to lower bills forever.
“Politicians should not lose sight of that or they will pay at the ballot box.”
The Current Homes Alliance has warned that legally binding targets on fuel poverty and net zero will be missed without new, fit-for-purpose legislation on heating in buildings.
It is anticipated that the Heat in Buildings Bill, if passed, would ban the use of polluting heat from 2045 and require homeowners to meet a minimum energy efficiency standard by the end of 2033. It would also requires private landlords to meet a minimum energy efficiency standard by the end of 2028.
With around 20% of Scotland’s annual carbon emissions coming from heating properties, EHA says home owners, landlords and the supply chain in the housing sector must be incentivized and supported if Scotland is to have any hope of reach net zero by the 2045 deadline.
Simon Francis, coordinator of the Fuel Poverty Eradication Coalition, added: “The Prime Minister’s domestic political crisis risks causing harm to the most vulnerable in society. Any further delay in promoting energy efficiency schemes, protecting tenants’ rights and organizing financial support for the most vulnerable will be a heavy blow to households.
“MPs need to come together and unite on a program that will tackle the long-term causes of Scotland’s cold homes crisis and provide emergency support to those most at risk next winter.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government is committed to tackling fuel poverty and is supporting vulnerable households through a range of actions.
“This includes the Winter Heating Payment which, as at 31 March, has supported almost 418,000 low income households with a total investment of £23 million in 2023/24. Over 30,000 Children’s Winter Heating Payments were made last winter, totaling £7.2 million. This helped to mitigate additional heating costs for disabled children and young people’s homes during the winter.
“The forthcoming Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan will set out measures to support Scotland’s oil and gas workforce as part of the transition to net zero.”
