Energy

Donald MacKinnon MSP and I are calling for the £300 heating oil grant to be doubled to £600 and the scheme expanded to cover more island households. I have demanded that the Scottish Government look again at the scheme after it emerged that two-thirds of applicants from the islands have been refused support. According to Scottish Government figures only 138 applicants from the Western Isles who are in receipt of pension credit or income support have received £300 to help wi

I have called for a change in the Scottish Emergency Heating oil scheme after it emerged that only 10 per cent of the £10 million fund has been disbursed. I raised this issue in the House of Commons as it is necessary to change the rules of the scheme to make more people eligible for support. The £300 per-household payment was introduced by the UK Government in March after the US strikes against Iran led to a spike in heating oil prices for consumers. The Scottish Government

Community-owned windfarms should be given priority connection to the national grid and communities entitled to take a 20 per cent stake in any onshore or offshore developments in their area, a powerful Commons committee has demanded. I welcome a report from the Commons Energy Committee where I am a sitting member, which has backed my calls for local communities have a far greater role in the renewable energy transition. The report provides a blueprint to transform communi

I welcome a major Labour government announcement that will give communities across the UK the power to control and benefit from their own energy projects. Labour’s £1billion funding for the Local Power Plan represents the largest public investment in community energy in British history, putting power directly into the hands of local people while ensuring profits generated by clean energy stay in the communities where they are produced. Announcing the Local Power Plan in t