Current status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 26 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide details of its reported expansion of the Home Energy Scotland advice service.
In August 2022, the Scottish Government committed funding to increase capacity across a range of advice services to help to address demand as a result of the energy crisis. This funding supported the Home Energy Scotland advice service to increase its capacity by 20% which helped to support over 138,000 unique households in 2022-23, with over 71,000 of those vulnerable to fuel poverty. This was an increase of over 70% of households at risk of fuel poverty receiving support from the service, versus the previous year. Home Energy Scotland's Energycarer service was boosted at the same time, allowing for an increase in visits to extremely vulnerable households who would otherwise struggle to engage with the service via the telephone or online. The expanded level of service has been maintained in 2023-24.
