I am sure that folk across Orkney are grateful of comparatively mild weather after a cold spell that made keeping warm at home particularly challenging.
Having been home during that cold spell, I know how harsh it was for folk. I am glad that the Scottish Government continues to deliver different winter heating payments to the UK Government, following Labour’s inexplicable decision to remove funding from pensioners across the Highlands and Islands this winter.
Previous UK Government heating payments simply weren’t being paid out because of the arcane way they were distributed, with temperatures needing to be low enough for a full week.
What the Scottish Government is doing with winter heating payments is a significant improvement and – given the fact that the UK Government controls energy pricing – it is another mitigation of poor UK policy.
Folk in Orkney are now receiving a benefit that they would not have received under the previous scheme – not a single payment was triggered in 2021-22, for example.
Importantly, when planning its winter heating payment, the Scottish Government listened carefully to feedback from public consultation and its social security experience panels, as it does with all its benefits, which are co-designed with the people who will receive them. That is a marked difference between the Scottish Government’s approach and that of the UK Government.
The fact is that folk overwhelmingly supported removal of the cold-spell requirement. Age UK was similarly supportive and has called on the UK Government to remove it. That is why Scotland’s winter heating payment breaks the link with an arbitrarily-defined weather dependency and provides financial support no matter the weather.
The cold-spell requirement meant as few as 4,000 people received a payment in 2019-20 and just 11,000 got one in 2021-22. In sharp contrast, when the Scottish Government’s winter heating payment was launched in 2022-23, a total of 398,240 folk received it. And over 453,000 folk got winter heating payments from the Scottish Government last winter, thanks to an investment of £25 million.
This winter, even more—£26.8 million—will be invested in winter heating payments, which more than triples the £8.5 million that was provided on average by the UK Department of Work and Pensions in each of the seven years before the Scottish payment was introduced.
Recognising current pressures on household budgets, the winter heating payment was uprated by 10.1% for winter 2023-24, from £50 to £55.05, and by a further 6.7% for this winter, to £58.75.
Similarly, Orkney folk wanting to improve the energy efficiency of their homes get extra help from the Scottish Government, with Home Energy Scotland’s grant and loan scheme offering a £1500 uplift in the islands. And, as Acting Climate Action Minister Alasdair Allan spelled out to me in the Holyrood chamber last week, Orkney households in extreme fuel poverty can benefit from insulation works worth up to £21,000.
That is what can happen when Scotland controls payments to help folk keep warm at home. The Scottish Government will always put the people of Scotland first.
This is a regular column by SNP MSP Emma Roddick. All Highlands and Islands MSPs have been offered the same space in The Orkney News to share their personal views.