Council depute leader calls rise in energy bills 'an absolute horror story'

The imminent rise in energy bills has been described by Highland Council's depute leader as "an absolute horror story" for many householders.

Councillor Alasdair Christie joined with leader Margaret Davidson in setting out their fears over the impact of the price cap increase from April.

They highlighted the help available from the local authority’s welfare support team and from the Citizens Advice Bureau, both of which provide a free and confidential service.

Those on default tariffs paying by direct debit will see an average increase of £693 to £1971 a year. Prepayment customers will face a rise of £708 to £2017.

Councillor Christie said: “This is an absolute horror story for many Highland residents who are seeing their bills and costs soaring, leaving them to make impossibly difficult decisions between food, energy, going out and basic day-to-day living."

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced some support for householders.

Councillor Davidson said: “I am really concerned over the impact of these huge increases in energy costs on already hard-pressed households in Highland.

"The recognition of this and the additional funding from the UK government is welcome. We now need to see how the Scottish Government will use these funds to support households with their energy bills.

“We have already recognised the pressures being faced by households in Highland and established our own Discretionary Fuel Support Fund to help those in most need of additional support with their winter heating costs.

“We believe these additional funds from the UK government, that will make their way to Scottish Government via the Barnett formula, should be distributed directly by local government as we have the schemes and systems in place to get this money out to our communities quickly.”

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