measures for central heating programme

Posted Nov 22, 10:22

Hundreds of pensioner households are to benefit this winter from significant extra measures announced today as part of the Government’s central heating programme.

Health and Wellbeing Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said that £7 million was being earmarked to help eligible pensioners who are most in need and are without heating and hot water.

She stressed that as well as giving additional priority to the most vulnerable applicants who are without heating and water, capacity in this year’s programme will be increased to avoid lengthening the waiting times for others – particularly those seeking first-time installations.

Scottish Gas will speed up delivery in this financial year to achieve up to a further 1,600 installations, bringing the total number of central heating systems installed under the programme to 15,000 this financial year – more than in any previous year.

Ms Sturgeon said:

“We are doing all we can this winter to help the most vulnerable pensioners who are eligible for a new central heating system under the fuel poverty programme and whose existing system has broken down beyond repair.

“It is important that we give extra priority to vulnerable pensioners who face this winter in homes without heating and hot water. We will focus this extra spending on increasing capacity in this year’s programme to avoid making waiting lists longer.

“We also recognise that there are underlying issues with the design of the fuel poverty programmes and we are examining these.”

Scottish Gas, which manages the central heating programme, will identify from existing information from applicants and inspections, those who are likely to be without heating and hot water and those who are the most vulnerable. Those people will be given greater priority than they have at present.

The central heating programme helps pensioners in fuel poverty by providing a new central heating system where they do not have one or, for pensioners most likely to be in fuel poverty, replacing partial and inefficient systems. The programme also replaces systems that have broken beyond repair.

It is not an emergency repair scheme and the greatest impact on fuel poverty is achieved where a system is provided for the first time.

The practical situation is that a pensioner who is eligible for a new system and whose present system is broken beyond repair, may not be able to make other arrangements until the system is replaced.

source-Scottish Parliament

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