‘Lives will be lost’ over hike in energy bills, Scottish Minister warns

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Scotland’s Energy Secretary has warned of a “real risk” people could die in the months ahead with the country facing its highest hike in fuel bills yet.

MSP Michael Matheson said there could be up to 900,000 homes in Scotland either in fuel poverty or extreme fuel poverty as a result of the increases in fuel costs.

Ofgem announced last week that bills will rise typically by £693 a year from April – a jump the Bank of England warned is set to create the biggest fall in living standards since comparable records.Speaking on BBC’s The Sunday Show, Matheson described the UK Government’s measures in place to deal with the crisis ahead as “wholly inadequate”.He said ministers south of the border have more control over “the tools needed” to prevent the poverty crisis from worsening.“The action proposed by the UK Government last week is insufficient to deal with the scale and the nature of the crisis, which many individuals, particularly low income households, are now facing,” Matheson said.“With the very serious increase we are now seeing in energy prices, it’s going to be compounded by the increase in National Insurance contributions and also with cutting Universal Credit.“There is a real crisis building here, and it has been on the cards for some time now.“There is a real risk that lives will be lost this year out of this financial crisis.”Earlier in the week, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that all households will receive a £200 discount on bills from October, but that will have to be repaid over five years.He said this will help reduce anxiety over the increase and take the “sting” out of the rise.But Matheson slammed the measure saying it will likely increase poverty due to households having to pay back a loan.“They (UK