Dundee’s elderly are bearing the brunt of the fuel poverty crisis gripping the city and communities across Scotland.
Pensioners have been among the hardest hit by welfare reform and rising energy costs as hundreds of households have plunged into difficulties in recent years.
They now account for almost 60% of all households in fuel poverty, which is particularly worrying at this time of year, when the ability to turn on heating can be the difference between life and death.
Dundee City Council has spent tens of millions of pounds in recent years to address the problem of fuel poverty, but despite its wide-ranging and effective measures, fuel poverty has nonetheless risen to 42% across the city.
That compares unfavourably with the Scottish average, which is at 36%.
The Scottish Government has said it is “very concerned” about rising fuel poverty levels, which make it increasingly unlikely that Scotland will meet its target of “eradicating fuel poverty by 2016”.
The council will meet this evening to debate the issue and elected members will be asked to agree to a new fuel poverty action plan.
In her report to the council’s Housing Committee, the executive director of Neighbourhood Services, Elaine Zwirlein, lays bare the scale of the problem.
“Despite all efforts by the Dundee Energy Efficiency Partnership (DEEAP), the corporate strategy, funding from fuel companies and Government strategies, fuel poverty levels in Dundee and across Scotland continue to rise,” she writes.
“Escalating fuel prices, combined with welfare reform make improving the situation a huge challenge for all local authorities.”
Ms Zwirlein added: “Research recently submitted to the Scottish Government showed that fuel poverty affects health and educational attainment and increases winter deaths in the UK.
“Welfare reform, combined with the effects of rising household fuel bills, will continue to increase the pressures on household incomes for Dundee’s poorest households.”