Excess Winter Deaths

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at 5:35 pm on 9 December 2004.

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Photo of Alex Neil Alex Neil Scottish National Party 5:35, 9 December 2004

Like other members, I begin by paying tribute to Margaret Ewing not just for securing this debate but for her 20-year campaign on the subject. I also pay tribute to Ann Loughrey, who has made Energy Action Scotland one of the most efficient non-governmental organisations in Scotland, if not in the United Kingdom.

Margaret Ewing was right to say that there is a direct link between poverty in general and fuel poverty. I have been examining the statistics on the incidence of winter deaths over the past five years by constituency. The latest statistics—those for 2003-04—show that there were no excess winter deaths in only two parliamentary constituencies, Dumfries and Glasgow Kelvin, both of which are relatively prosperous parts of the country. At the other end of spectrum, some of the figures are very worrying, especially in Glasgow and Lanarkshire. The Hamilton North and Bellshill area accounted for one quarter of all excess winter deaths in North Lanarkshire, which has five parliamentary constituencies. There were 130 such deaths in Hamilton North and Bellshill and Hamilton South. There is nothing to suggest that excess deaths occur in that area but not in Glasgow Kelvin because the weather is worse in Lanarkshire.

Apart from the weather, there are three fundamental contributors to fuel poverty and excess winter deaths. The first, which many speakers have mentioned, is the relatively low income level of many households, especially pensioner households. One problem relates to pension credit. Only about two thirds of the people who are entitled to pension credit claim it. That is bad enough, but pension credit is also a trigger for assistance with gas bills, for example. Because a third of our pensioners are failing to take up pension credit, about 212,000 pensioners in Scotland do not receive the benefit of the Scottish Gas price cap to which they would be entitled if they claimed the pension credit. I hope that as well as considering specific Scottish Executive policies, such as the central heating programme, the minister will take up with his Westminster colleagues how we can increase uptake of pension credit, pending—I hope—introduction of a citizens pension, which is not only Liberal Democrat policy, but SNP policy.

The other two contributors are housing conditions and energy prices. As was mentioned, gas prices are increasing by 12.4 per cent and electricity prices are increasing by 9.4 per cent. However, there will be nothing like 12 or 9 per cent increases in the basic pension, pension credit or any other benefits. It is clear that we can look forward to fuel poverty getting worse, not better, because the increase in energy prices is four times the increase in income for our poorer households. Again, I ask the minister to take up that matter with his Westminster colleagues. Until we increase income levels, we will not reduce fuel poverty. Unfortunately, that is all that I can say in four minutes.