Half a million people in Scotland facing ‘fuel insecurity’

Labour Conference 2026 / 28 September 2026 Anti-Rosebank oil field protesters chant ‘don’t Burnham’ outside party conference 28 September 2026 Terrorism / 28 September 2026 Iran denies ties to RAF Fairford bomb plot 28 September 2026 Labour Conference 2026 / 28 September 2026 Migrant workers pose as slaves in Unison protest against visa reforms 28 September 2026 Transport / 28 September 2026 Avanti nationalisation welcomed by rail unions 28 September 2026 Labour Conference 2026 / 28 September 2026 Healey pledges ‘reindustrialisation’ through arms spending 28 September 2026 Labour Conference 2026 / 28 September 2026 Striking rail workers and migrant care workers join Insource Now rally at Labour conference 28 September 2026 THE Scottish government must provide more robust and inclusive support to tackle fuel poverty, say academics, as more than half-a-million older people in Scotland face “fuel insecurity.”

In a new paper published in the European Journal of Public Health, researchers at Aberdeen University have warned that food, fuel and financial insecurity could have a profound impact on already yawning health inequalities in Scotland.

Dr Aravinda Guntupalli, who led the research, said: “Put plainly, our findings show that international conflicts and global shocks are having direct and serious consequences for Scottish households.

“Cold homes, reduced food intake and persistent money worries are not just economic issues — they are drivers of health inequality.”

Drawing on data collected for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation by Savanta ComRes in 2023, the study found that fuel insecurity affected almost three out of five (58 per cent) of people surveyed.

It also found 28 per cent faced food insecurity and 22 per cent languished in financial insecurity amid the ongoing cost-of-greed crisis that has seen prices skyrocket and households unable to pay bills or cope with unexpected costs.

Concluding that the figures could translate into 520,000 adults in Scotland in fuel insecurity, researchers said “these developments underscore the need for more robust and inclusive fuel insecurity support in Scotland.”

But they noting that and that lower income middle-aged and older adults (those aged between 45 and 74) were “particularly vulnerable to fuel insecurity” and warned that “limiting provision to pensioners alone or older adults on means-tested benefits exclusively would likely have serious public health consequences.”

Dr Guntupalli added: “Scotland already faces the lowest life expectancy in the UK and the highest life expectancy inequality in western Europe. 

“Our data suggests that fuel insecurity is likely to carry substantial public health costs.”

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “No-one should have to compromise on food or other essentials.

“Our support has saved thousands of Scottish households between an estimated £300 and £500 a year — evidence of how we are using our limited powers to help where we can by investing in more energy-efficient homes, tackling fuel poverty and meeting our ambitious climate change targets. 

“We continue to press the UK government to use the powers that only it has to deliver a social tariff targeted at those energy consumers in greatest need.”

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