15th
August 2007
McNeil
to Chair Fuel Poverty Workshop
Fuel poverty will be the burning issue
when MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil, chairs a workshop session
at Citizens Advice Scotland’s annual conference in Edinburgh today (Wednesday).
Mr McNeil has
been invited to take part in his capacity as the new Chair of the Scottish
Parliament’s Local Government and Communities Committee. The
event is the latest in a series of discussions Mr McNeil is holding throughout
the summer with organisations whose work impacts on policies which come under
his Committee’s remit.
The workshop
will feature contributions from Norman Kerr, director of Energy Action Scotland;
Ann Loughrey from Scottish Power; Charles Gallacher of regulator Ofgem Scotland;
and Pauline Armstrong from Energy Watch Scotland.
Speaking
ahead of the workshop, Mr McNeil said:
“The issues
we need to examine include which groups are most vulnerable to fuel poverty and
whether we can meet our targets to eradicate fuel poverty by 2016.
We’ll also be looking at how the problem is tackled in other countries.
“I would
also be interested in exploring questions around pre-payment meters and whether
they exacerbate the problem. Could,
for example, the new generation of so-called ‘smart meters’ be the way
forward? What innovative examples
are there of power companies helping the most vulnerable? How
can we balance the needs and responsibilities of both suppliers and customers?
“No one
should be too poor to heat their home in a country with a climate like ours.
We need to work to keep this issue high up the political agenda and I am
looking forward to hearing a range of informed views and ideas during the
workshop.”
Scotland is
on average two degrees colder than England, but despite progress in reducing
winter deaths, over 1,000 Scots still die each year of hypothermia.
The CAB
conference in Edinburgh will bring together over 400 delegates from frontline
Citizens Advice Bureaux across Scotland. The acclaimed Scots author William McIlvanney and First
Minister Alex Salmond are also among the guest-speakers.
ENDS
Back to Current Press Releases
[ HOME ] [ News ] [ Report to the People ] [ Interact ] [ Links ] [ E-Mail ]
[ Copyright ] [ Directgov ] [ Scottish Parliament ]