Sutherland Fuel Poverty Summit
On Friday 8th of October a full-day summit looking at fuel poverty from the perspective of the residents and communities of Sutherland will take place on-line. The flyer and summary programme provides further details on this exciting event. To register for your place at the summit please use this Eventbrite link: https://sutherlandfuelpovertysummit.eventbrite.co.uk
Recent research has shown that prior to the onset of COVID-19, one in four children in Sutherland were living in poverty and one in three households in Sutherland were living in extreme fuel poverty. Fuel poverty in remote rural Scotland has long been a major and unresolved issue and the summit will provide the opportunity for people to hear first-hand the extent of the problem, what is currently being done to tackle it and to explore potential solutions for the long-term eradication of fuel poverty in line with climate change targets.
A prestigious line-up of speakers will include Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy Kate Forbes MSP, Local MSP Maree Todd, Professor Donald Hirsch who leads the Minimum Income Survey UK research team at Loughborough University, and Magnus Davidson from the University of the Highlands and Islands. Speakers will cover the currently available home insulation and heating solutions, green electricity generation in the Highlands & Islands, a ‘Just Transition’ to Net Zero, and how the Scottish Government aims to address rural fuel poverty in its new Scottish Fuel Poverty Strategy which will be announced later this year.
In July the Sutherland Community Partnership Fuel Poverty sub-group commissioned Kyle of Sutherland Development Trust (KoSDT), along with the local Citizens Advice Bureau, to seek the views of all householders in the county on the affordability of heating their homes through the Sutherland Affordable Warmth survey. The outcomes of this survey plus other supporting evidence will be presented at the summit. A report will be written up of the summit discussions and outputs so that good, practical solutions to the fuel poverty problem in Sutherland are identified which can easily and reliably be accessed by all the local households that need them.
Please share the information about the summit across your networks and communities.
We hope you can join the Sutherland Community Partnership on Friday 8th October. We look forward to welcoming colleagues, partners, volunteers, local residents and many others on the day.
