The Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel
The Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel was appointed on 1st January 2022.
We are an advisory non-departmental public body which provides independent advice to Scottish Ministers on fuel poverty and scrutiny of their progress towards delivering Scotland’s 2040 fuel poverty targets, and its two interim targets in 2030 and 2035.
The Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act 2019 sets out specific requirements for the Panel in relation to fuel poverty.
These include:
Commenting on Scottish Ministers progress on fuel poverty targets.
Advising Scottish Ministers on how policies and programmes, set out in its Fuel Poverty Strategy, are addressing the four drivers of fuel poverty:
1) High energy prices.
2) Poor energy efficiency of the home.
3) Low household income.
4) Energy consumption.
The Tackling Fuel Poverty Strategy 2021 extends the Panel’s role to include:
- Supporting an evidence-based approach to fuel poverty which puts those with lived experience at its centre.
- Advising on the delivery of the Fuel Poverty Strategy, including on the mechanism for how the strategy-delivery is monitored and evaluated.
- Championing and fostering a collaborative approach to addressing fuel poverty across Scotland.
- Advising Scottish Ministers on the impact of new evidence, technologies, and opportunities to tackle fuel poverty.
We are a small Panel of four members, which worked 53 days in total during the April 2024 to March 2025 year. We are supported by a Secretariat of three.