Scottish Power boss 'hides' as Falkirk protesters gather at firm's Glasgow HQ

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 Scottish Power CEO Andrew 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, which was started by Slamannan residents Claire Mackie and Fiona Gordon, decided to take the fight right to the source of the problem.

On Monday members of Falkirk's Forgotten Villages Ending Fuel Poverty group gathered outside Scottish Power's headquarters in St Vincent Street, Glasgow with banners stating “Scottish Power – Creating Poverty”, “Scottish Power – Home of the Ruthless”, “Stop Putting Profit Before Life” and “Reduce Tariffs Now”.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.

“There were police around the building so Scottish Power obviously told them about the protest. 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.”

While Mr Ward did not meet protesters in person – and was accused of hiding away from the problem – Scottish Power stated this week 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: “The reality is prices have increased but it’s just astronomical what you are actually consuming in your homes. I’m responsible for this company so we need to look at this – you have a consumption issue and a potential metering issue which may result in a billing issue.

“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.”

Falkirk’s Forgotten Villages – Ending Fuel Poverty are now planning more protests with people from all over the country joining them.

Visit Falkirk’s Forgotten Villages Ending Fuel Poverty Facebook page for more information.