The Scottish Government will tackle fuel poverty with a £12.5 million scheme that will offer free home insulation measures.
200,000 homes will be targeted with the scheme and will be administered by the Universal Home Insulation.
Alex Neil, Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment said: “With the onset of winter just round the corner, now more than ever we need to offer support and immediate assistance to those most in need to help them heat their homes and stay energy efficient.
“That is why, through this scheme, we are injecting millions of pounds in our fight to help stamp out fuel poverty. Councils across Scotland who successfully bid for the cash will administer the scheme.”
While the scheme was welcomed by the Labour party, they also warned that there would need to be cuts on the amount spent on tackling fuel poverty.
Statistics from Labour show that the Scottish Government will spend £48 million on home insulation improvements to fight the problem in 2011/12.
This has been reduced from the £70.9 million spent in 2010/11. Finance spokesman Richard Baker has said that although all the money spent on fuel poverty is welcome, the SNP has slashed fuel poverty budget by a third.
He said: “Soaring energy prices affect every Scot, but they have a disproportionate impact on those on the lowest incomes. It is our duty to help the poorest and most vulnerable through these tough times and it is deeply disappointing the SNP does not seem to share this view.
“The fact is if the SNP were serious about tackling fuel poverty then they would not have cut the budget by a third.”
Fuel poverty has been on the rise all over the UK because of an increase in energy prices. All the major electricity and gas suppliers have raised prices.
Fuel poverty is when more than 10% of your income is spent on duel fuel bills. It’s such a big problem that 4.6 million households in Britain are suffering from fuel poverty.