Almost one third of Scottish households are in fuel poverty, according to a survey.
Published on Thursday, the Scottish House Condition Survey estimated that 791,000 households – equalling 31% – paid more than 10% of their income towards energy in 2022.
Of those, 472,000 households – 18.5% – were in extreme fuel poverty, meaning 20% of their annual income was spent on energy bills.
The figures have risen sharply from a similar study in 2019, when 613,000 households were in fuel poverty, with 311,000 in extreme fuel poverty – 24.6% and 12.4% respectively.
Campaigners have described the figures as “completely unacceptable”.
“It means disabled people skipping warm meals to charge medical equipment,” said Citizens Advice Scotland social justice spokesman, Matthew Lee.
“It means pensioners sitting in the cold and the dark because they are so scared about the cost of turning the heating on, and parents cutting back on clothes for their kids.
“Having gone through a pandemic, and the worst cost-of-living crisis in memory since these figures were last published, this increase may not surprise people, but it should spark outrage and action.”
While Scottish Labour housing spokesman Mark Griffin said the “soaring” rates of fuel poverty were a “damning indictment of our two Governments and a symbol of their shameful failure to tackle this cost-of-living crisis”.
“It beggars belief that a third of Scottish households are in fuel poverty, but both the SNP and the Tories are more concerned about protecting the eye-watering profits of oil and gas giants,” he added.
“Labour will tackle the scandal of fuel poverty by driving down bills with cheaper, cleaner energy, insulating homes, and boosting wages.”
Scottish Lib Dem climate spokesman Liam McArthur described the figures as “staggering”, calling for the urgent rollout of a nationwide insulation programme.
But energy minister Gillian Martin hit out at the UK Government over the figures, claiming they had “failed to take the necessary steps” to protect people.
“These findings highlight the real challenges facing by householders from increased energy prices, the most important factor behind fuel poverty,” she said.
“I welcome the continued improvement in the energy efficiency of our building stock, although we need to do more to meet our climate targets and eliminate energy efficiency as a driver of fuel poverty.
“It is the UK Government that has continually failed to take the necessary steps to support people now and make the necessary changes – which only it can take – to ensure households and businesses never experience an energy crisis like this again.
“This includes providing meaningful, targeted support to those who need it most – including the introduction of a social tariff on energy bills which would protect our most vulnerable from energy price shocks in future.”