New advice service in Highlands to help tenants cope with soaring bills
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Highland Council is to launch a specialist energy advice service to help tenants cope with increasing fuel bills this winter.
The authority's housing committee was asked today to approve an £80,000 investment in two full-time energy advisors.
This service would be delivered by Scottish charity AliEnergy, which currently offers advice to tenants in Lochaber.
Under the proposal, AliEnergy would recruit two more advisors to cover north Highland and south Highland. They would provide expert advice on energy efficiency and also direct tenants to external financial support.
The £80,000 would come from the council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA).
However, Councillor Alex Graham asked committee to go further.
“This crisis is going to fall upon people, especially in the next six to nine months,” said Councillor Graham. “Can we double this investment? We have £7.8 million of reserves in the HRA so even an accountant like myself can support increasing it to £160,000.
“This will put boots on the ground and there will be plenty of ground to cover in the winter and the spring ahead.”
Housing boss David Goldie welcomed the suggestion, but asked members to agree in principle to an investment of up to £160,000. His team will hold these funds and investigate the best way to use it.
Housing committee members unanimously agreed the investment.
Earlier in the day, Councillor Margaret Paterson had urged members to act now to support tenants.
“Fuel bills now are crippling,” she said. “What are we going to do? What are we going to tell our people? We have to work on this now before winter sets in. It’s absolutely urgent.”
