Alasdair Allan MSP
Western Isles MSP, Alasdair Allan, has today welcomed the backing of Scotland’s Housing Minister, Alex Neil, for the campaign to have winter weather payments calculated by taking wind chill into account.
Mr Neil has recently been corresponding with Helen Goodman MP, Under-secretary of State in the UK Department of Work and Pensions on this issue.
Mr Neil draws Ms Goodman’s attention to a number of areas which demonstrate that the effect of extreme cold weather can often be worsened in rural parts of Scotland due to the wind chill factor.
The UK Government’s winter weather payment system does not presently recognise this, being calculated purely on the number of degrees of frost.
Alasdair Allan commented:
“As both Angus MacNeil and I have pointed out this winter, there is a compelling case for the winter weather payment system to be revised to take into account the wind chill factor.
This is especially true in the Western Isles, which suffers the highest fuel poverty in Scotland at a shocking level of 47%.
“While the cold weather payments remains the same across the UK, the cost of heating a home does not, and so this benefit is not fit for purpose. The extremes of weather that we face in Scotland, and in the islands in particular, need to be recognised by the UK Government to ensure that this benefit better meets the needs of our pensioners and families.
“This issue is one that both Angus Macneil and I have raised a number of times. I am pleased that the Scottish Government has also been getting involved, by actively lobbying the UK Government, under whose authority the benefits system still comes.”
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