Bob Doris MSP has hit out at the Labour Party today for conducting a "fundamentally dishonest campaign of misinformation" on Scotland's new Energy Assistance Package (EAP).

Labour MSP Mary Mulligan has attempted to manipulate statistics in order to attack the EAP, by conflating the numbers of calls made to the helpline with the numbers of applications made for central heating installation.

"She is trying to claim that because every single call to the EAP helpline did not result in a central heating installation, that makes the whole scheme a failure. What utter nonsense. Does she really not understand the difference between calling a helpline and applying for a central heating system?

"We can now add the EAP to concessionary fares, apprenticeships, Scottish Water, so-called mandatory sentencing and a growing list of other issues on which Labour is blatantly and consistently trying to deceive the Scottish people.

"The fact is that the SNP is delivering record numbers of central heating installations, far more than Labour did. In both 2007/8 and 2008/9 the Scottish Government installed more systems than in any single year under Labour. That has meant installing or upgrading 33,937 heating systems in private housing. In 2008-2009, waiting lists for central heating systems actually fell by more than 40 per cent.

"The SNP government has extended the central heating scheme to include those in inefficient homes with children under 5 or disabled children under 16, to households on certain benefits with children under 16, and to people with certain long term conditions.

"The EAP also offers a range of additional support such as benefits checks for those calling to ensure they get all the money they are entitled to, and it also works with energy suppliers to get a cheaper, lower tariff for those categorised as fuel poor. This has led to nearly 10,000 people saving £1.6m thanks to the benefits checks an increase in pensioner income by on average £26 a week and families with children have been helped to claim an extra £42 a week on average.

"The EAP has been a significant success story by the SNP government, tackling the problem of fuel poverty and helping thousands of households to cut their energy bills and keep more money in their pockets."

Notes:

Installations by Local Authority area

Scottish Government release on benefits checks from EAP