Tuesday 11 December 2012

£3.5m for energy efficiency in Scottish homes

The Scottish Government has chosen 19 projects to share a £3.5 million fund for energy efficient projects.

More than 2,200 old and cold properties across Scotland will benefit from the fund, with the installation of solid wall insulation, double glazing and central heating. The cash is also expected to bring in a total of £27 million, including £13 million from major utility firms and support around 150 jobs across the country.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (pictured) said: “With Scotland’s first significant snowfall of the winter this week, we are doing all we can to help people heat their homes. Older homes are often the most difficult to keep warm and we are determined to help householders in this situation wherever we can.”

The fund is also expected to cut bills and tackle fuel poverty, with local authorities and social landlords working in partnerships with all the major six energy firms, targeting areas where fuel poverty is a concern.

Ms Sturgeon added: “To help tackle fuel poverty we are actively working with energy companies to ensure that Scotland continues to get its fair share of energy company funding for efficiency programmes like these. Unlike the UK Government, we believe it is important to provide this type of funding, which is why we are committing around a quarter of a billion pounds to it in this spending review period.”

Earlier this year ELN reported Scotland's Deputy First Minister saying the Scottish Government's efforts to tackle fuel poverty were "held back" due to "mixed messages" from the UK Government.