The Fuel Insecurity Fund ceased in 2024/25, the Scottish Government has confirmed in its first statutory fuel poverty periodic report, covering the three years to 22 December 20241. The fund had made over £63 million available since late winter 20201.
The report sets the fund's closure against a wider picture on fuel poverty. The Scottish House Condition Survey estimated that 34% of households in Scotland were in fuel poverty in 2023, up from 31% in 2022 and 24.6% in 2019, even as the share of dwellings rated EPC band C or better rose from 45% in 2019 to 56% in 20231. The report states that high fuel prices have been the largest factor influencing fuel poverty rates in recent years1.
Other support has been reported in the same period. In November 2024, the Scottish Government announced £41 million in additional support for people struggling with energy costs in winter 2024/20251. In July 2024, the UK Government announced it would restrict entitlement to Winter Fuel Payment to those in receipt of Pension Credit and other means-tested benefits from that winter1. The Scottish Government also established a social tariff working group in November 2024, bringing together stakeholders including suppliers and third sector organisations; its final report was shared with the UK Government in March 20251.
On energy efficiency schemes, the report records that the Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme was launched in December 2022 as an update to the HES Loan and Cashback scheme, and re-launched in October 2023 with more funding, with £85 million allocated in financial year 2024/25, described as the scheme's highest budget to date1. The ECO4 scheme was launched in March 2022, and the UK Government expanded ECO in October 2023 to include the Great British Insulation Scheme1. As of February 2025, around 46,887 households had received improvements, with 2,723 Scottish households having benefited from GBIS, 6% of those participating1.
"The fund ceased in 2024/25"
Why it matters for households
The Fuel Insecurity Fund was a crisis intervention, distinct from the grants-schemes that fund permanent improvements to a home. Its closure removes a route that households in acute difficulty could use when bills became unmanageable, at a time when the reported fuel poverty rate has risen rather than fallen1. The report notes that the Scottish Government has sought to mitigate high energy prices while improving the energy efficiency of the housing stock, but states it remains a considerable way from its statutory targets1.
For a household's energy independence, the distinction between crisis support and capital-funded measures matters. Schemes such as the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan and Warmer Homes Scotland pay for measures that reduce consumption over time, while the ceased fund addressed affordability in the short term1. The report also records that energy markets remain reserved to the UK Government, and that the Scottish Government continues to call for a social tariff mechanism1. No replacement for the Fuel Insecurity Fund has been reported.
What happens next
The report sets out the next three-year reporting period, 2025-271. It records that the Scottish Government published its response to its EPC Reform consultation on 21 January 2025, confirming plans to lay new regulations later in 2025 and bring them into force in 20261. Consultations on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill and the Social Housing Net Zero Standard both closed on 8 March 20241. The social tariff working group's final report was shared with the UK Government in March 20251. The Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel's upcoming statutory report is also awaited1.