TIME TO CONSIDER WIND CHILL FACTOR FOR COLD WEATHER PAYMENTS.

FIGURES REVEAL IT COSTS 67% MORE TO HEAT A HOUSE IN BRAEMAR THAN BRISTOL.

TIME TO CONSIDER WIND CHILL FACTOR FOR COLD WEATHER PAYMENTS.

A Parliamentary Answer received by Western Isles SNP MSP shows it costs 65% more to heat a home in Braemar than it does in Bristol. The figure in Stornoway in his own constituency is 62%.

Mr Allan said the figures underlined why the wind chill factor should be taken into account in setting cold weather payments which are triggered when the average temperature at a specified weather station must be recorded as, or forecast to be, 0°C or below for seven consecutive days.

Before the 1997 general election Labour attacked the Tories for refusing to take freezing winds into account for cold weather payments. Four of their Scottish MPs who became ministers even signed a motion demanding a change to the rules. These were Adam Ingram, Sam Galbraith, George Foulkes and Nigel Griffiths.

However in 1997 the London Labour government u-turned on the issue and kept the Tory position. By 1999 the then Social Security Secretary Alistair Darling again ruled out any such weighting.

Commenting on the issue Mr Allan said:

"These figures illustrate why the wind chill factor must be taken into account when calculating cold weather payments.

"In my constituency it is 62%. more expensive to heat a house in Stornoway than in Bristol. In Braemar it is a staggering 67%; and in Aberdeen it is 57%. more expensive.

"The SNP Government has been addressing this issue with the powers we have. An extra £10 million has been invested into the Scottish Government's Central Heating Programme this financial year to install more central heating systems before the current programme ends.

"And in the Western Isles we have secured a pledge from Scottish Gas that applicants in the Western Isles who have been waiting four months or more as of November 30, 2008 will receive a central heating system by the end of March 2009.

"However it is to the Labour party's eternal shame that they conned pensioners in 1997 when then reneged on their promise to include the wind chill factor.

"I believe that there should be an overall cold climate allowance that would take account of the climatic conditions from the north of the United Kingdom to the south.

"For example tapering payments could be made during the winter months to all those who receive income support, to pensioners and to the handicapped.

"A cold climate allowance that takes into account the varying climatic conditions from north to south would ensure that pensioners need not worry about heating their homes and would ensure that they were not left in a ridiculous situation."