Cold and hard to heat homes are a major of source of ill-health in Scotland particularly for the elderly. The head of the Royal College of Nursing Theresa Fyffe recently said: “it’s indefensible that cold, hard-to-heat homes continue to leave the most vulnerable in our society at the mercy of cold weather each winter.” Shockingly, it is estimated that between 2,500 and 3,000 older people are dying from cold related illnesses every winter. It’s clear we must to do a far more to ensure that the homes for our elderly are properly insulated.
This is why this week I lodged a motion in Parliament supporting Age Scotland’s warm homes campaign. The charity is calling for a Warm Homes Act and investment to raise all housing to a high energy performance standard. In addition to the serious health risks, poorly insulated homes are also a major drain on household finances with one third of Scottish households living in fuel poverty. But it is worse for older people with nearly half of our single household pensioners suffering from fuel poverty.
Sarah Boyack MSP 18th Feb 2016 read more »