Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 22 November 2018.
Liam McArthur
Liberal Democrat
I thank the Minister for early sight of his statement.
The minister said that he is listening to the issues around Fuel Poverty. Did he hear the strong criticism from those who gave evidence to the Local Government and Communities Committee yesterday about the failure of ministers to include a rural minimum income standard in the new definition of rural fuel poverty, which risks resources not being targeted at where they are most needed? Will he work with the housing minister to ensure that the fuel poverty bill is properly island proofed so that those resources go to places such as Orkney, which has the highest level of fuel poverty?
A household is said to be in fuel poverty when its members cannot afford to keep adequately warm at reasonable cost, given their income.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
