Falkirk fuel poverty group take protest to Scottish Power's doorstep for second time

Falkirk’s Forgotten Villages – Ending Fuel Poverty travelled through to the energy giant’s HQ in St Vincent Street at the end of August and they plan to return to the very same spot on Monday, September 14 from 11.30am

Claire Mackie, who started the campaign with Fiona Gordon last year, said: “We have a much higher number of people attending and we will continue to do so to highlight the lies this company and CEO Andrew Ward tells press and media. We won’t be forgotten and will continue to showcase our determination to hold this company accountable.”

Scottish Power CEO Andrew Ward was accused of hiding away from protesters at last months event and participants hope he will actually come out and talk to them face to face on Monday.

Falkirk’s Forgotten Villages – Ending Fuel Poverty campaign began in November last year when residents complained the THERMAflow electric heating system

Falkirk Council recommended be installed in their homes was combining with the Scottish Power fuel tariff to create extraordinarily expensive bills – some as high as £150 per week.

Their online petition demanded an investigation into the rising costs and resulted in a face to face meeting with Mr Ward late last year.

The group then scored a major victory earlier this year when Falkirk Council agreed to begin installing gas central heating in over 700 properties in the Braes area.

However, the work will not be carried out before winter comes calling so the group decided to take the fight right to the source of the problem.

During the last protest the group sported banners which stated “Scottish Power – Creating Poverty”, “Scottish Power – Home of the Ruthless”, “Stop Putting Profit Before Life” and “Reduce Tariffs Now”.

At the time Claire said: “We face another winter of Scottish Power charging astronomical weekly bills, forcing us back into a fuel poverty crisis. We didn’t get to speak to Andrew Ward ourselves, although Fiona phoned and ask him to come down and talk to us.

“We definitely made ourselves known, making a loud noise, and managed to gain a lot of interest from people. Andrew Ward gave interviews on television saying there is help out there for people – which there isn’t. They say they are always available at the end of the phone to help, but we can never get through to them.

“They also say they are going to be doing everything they can to help the customers, but emergency payments of £20 aren’t going to get people through the winter.

“We are in the summer just now and the heating systems are off, but people are still paying high costs. Andrew Ward said he is delighted Falkirk Council is installing gas in the houses, but since the public meeting we had with him last year he hasn’t got in touch with us.

“He certainly didn’t come down to speak to us face to face during the protest. We are Scottish Power’s cash cow and they are reluctant to let us go.”

People can visit Falkirk’s Forgotten Villages Ending Fuel Poverty Facebook page for more information about Monday’s protest.

While Mr Ward did not meet protesters in person – and was accused of hiding away from the problem – Scottish Power stated it remains “committed to working with the local community to address their concerns”.

A Scottish Power spokesperson said: “We sympathise with the tenants who have had long standing issues due to the heating system the local authority installed in their homes and can understand their frustrations.

“While we appreciate Falkirk Council has acknowledged the problems tenants are having with their heating, and is taking steps to address it with replacement heating, we are keen to work with those affected customers to help them reduce their fuel bills until this work can be carried out for everyone.

“We have already installed £500,000 worth of energy efficiency and insulation measures in homes and are working with Falkirk Council to make insulation available to all vulnerable households in the area.

“We’ve also introduced a new tariff to reduce costs for those customers affected by this heating system and have set up an emergency credit fund for those that need support over the winter.

“We know not everyone in the homes affected are on that tariff so we really do need to speak to those people in particular to help reduce their bills ahead of winter.

“Pre-lockdown we visited hundreds of people in their homes to give advice and support and would encourage anyone who hasn’t spoken with us directly to get in touch.

“We’ve spoken with the group organisers and our senior managers have attended public meetings, but we really do need to meet with people to go through each situation individually now.

“We remain committed to working with the local community to address their concerns and the positive efforts we have made are testament to this.”

During last year’s meeting with customers, which took place at Falkirk Council’s municipal buildings in December, Mr Ward actually admitted to those present Scottish Power’s customer service had been “terrible” but the firm was now “trying to make amends”.

He also stated: “If there is a problem with the billing then we need to sort it. We don’t have anywhere else in the UK that has such a small nucleus of people who have such a high consumption.”