Scottish Labour calls on SNP to enhance energy bills support from Westminster

Scottish Labour leader Michael Marra has called on SNP ministers to enhance energy bill support passed on from Westminster to support an extra 23,000 households. SNP Deputy First Minister and Finance Secretary, Jenny Gilruth, has already vowed to pass on the UK Labour government’s £100 one-off energy bill payment to those living in council tax bands A-D. But Scottish Labour is now calling on SNP ministers to work with councils to guarantee everyone on council tax reduction in higher bands also receive the voucher - supporting an estimated 23,000 additional Scottish households.

The party is also appealing for the Scottish government to boost the winter heating payment from £62 to £100, which it argues will help 487,000 households. Mr Marra said the plan would be funded by excess funding handed from Holyrood from the UK government. But Mr Gilruth has warned that the Scottish government is receiving a cut of around £650m from the UK government in next year’s budget. Mr Marra said: “The UK Labour budget delivers hundreds of millions of extra funding for cost-of-living support Scots.

It’s welcome that the SNP government has already committed to passing on the £100 payment to people in council tax bands A to D. “But we can go further – for the poorest households the Scottish Government should guarantee more support.” He added: “We can do that through a mix of identifying households on council tax reduction and increasing the winter heating payment, combining with the warm homes discount that is £350 worth of support for the poorest households.

“That’s what the Scottish budget should do and the SNP should work to guarantee that support, not use any excess funding to plug holes in their budget.” A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We are open to any suggestions to ease financial pressures, but the reality is the key levers over energy prices remain reserved to the UK government. “It’s why we have repeatedly called on them to implement a social tariff in the form of targeted bill discounts, which will see the estimated fuel bills of 660,000 households in Scotland go down by an average of £700.

“The UK government can act now but it is clear that the measures announced in the UK Budget fall far short of the action required to support homes across the country.”