Tag Archives: crown estates

24 February 2025 – today’s press releases

  • DIY heating: More than nine in ten Scots using alternatives to central heating this winter
  • Cole-Hamilton: UK must stand strong against Putin three years on from illegal invasion
  • Labour should ditch plans for health “superboards”
  • Crown Estate Bill – Labour treating Wales with contempt

DIY heating: More than nine in ten Scots using alternatives to central heating this winter

  • Scots who are worried about the cost of heating have changed how they heat their homes this winter to help cut bills.
  • Scottish Liberal Democrats are calling for an emergency home insulation programme to help those in fuel poverty.

A shocking new poll commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed that 66% of Scots say they are worried about the cost of heating their home this winter, as they reveal the alternative methods they are using to keep warm this winter.

The poll reveals that a staggering 96% of Scots who are worried about the cost of heating their home this winter have made changes to how they heat their homes.

Of those, 46% have lowered the thermostat temperature and almost a third (29%) have reduced the number of rooms being heated.

To keep warm this winter, 66% of Scots have worn additional clothing, 56% have used more blankets and throws and 38% have been drinking more hot beverages.

Worryingly, 5% of those who are worried about heating costs have revealed they have visited a warm bank this winter. Warm banks are free, safe spaces where people can go to warm up if they can’t afford to heat their homes.

Around 34% of all households in Scotland are estimated to be fuel poor. The energy price cap is set to rise by 5% in April, increasing average annual household bills to £1,823 from April this year.

Liberal Democrat Scottish affairs spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said:

Both the Scottish and UK governments are failing to support Scots with heating their homes during the difficult winter months.

After the UK Labour Government axed universal winter fuel payments, vulnerable pensioners were left to choose between heating and eating. Meanwhile, on the SNP’s watch, fuel poverty has soared to record levels and it could take ministers 100 years to heat eligible homes.

My party has been working hard to try and unpick some of that damage, and after our talks with the Scottish Government, we’ve ensured that all pensioners in Scotland will receive help with their heating bills next winter.

Ministers still have a lot more to do, which is why we want to see the Scottish Government rolling out a nationwide insulation programme. That’s how we can meet the scale of the challenge and provide a win-win of cutting emissions and energy bills.

Cole-Hamilton: UK must stand strong against Putin three years on from illegal invasion

Speaking three years on from Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has said that the UK must stand strong against Putin and boost support for Ukraine by seizing frozen Russian assets, working in close step with Europe and increasing defence spending.

Posted in News, Press releases, Scotland and Wales | Also tagged , , , , , and | 3 Comments

Alistair Carmichael wants Orkney and Shetland to control their share of the Crown Estates

st Andrews flag saltire scotland Some rights reserved by Fulla TAlistair Carmichael has tabled an amendment to the Scotland Bill which would devolve control of the Crown Estates revenues to local level for Orkney and Shetland and, interestingly, the Western Isles. The Independent has the story:

Mr Carmichael said that the SNP administration is “in practice and instinct a highly centralised government” and did not want “devolution downwards”. Under his plan, the islands would have their own commissioners deciding how Crown Estate land is run.

He added that the Crown Estate owns and manages the seabed, which is of great importance to islands that rely heavily on the fishing industry, with salmon and trout farms. Mr Carmichael said these farms have to pay a percentage of their turnover to lease these areas, which is “a tax by any other name”.

This should present a challenge to Angus Brendan McNeil, the SNP MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar which includes the Outer Hebrides, because he should support the extra revenue for his local community. He won’t, of course, because the SNP likes to keep everything nice and centralised in Holyrood. Even if he violently disagreed with their policy, he would be forbidden from criticising it in public thanks to particularly draconian standing orders by which nationalist MPs have to abide.

Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 5 Comments
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