Pension Age Winter Heating Payment : Island Communities Impact Assessment

Footnotes

1 Empowering Scotland’s Island Communities - June 2014 - Island Areas Ministerial Working Group

2 Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 | Legislation.Gov

3 Relevant Low income Benefits - Pension Credit, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Income Support & Universal Credit

4 Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts – December 2024 | Scottish Fiscal Commission – Supplementary Figures – Figure 5.2

5 Pension Age Winter Heating Payment - Scottish Government Consultation

6 Social Security Experience Panels: Pension Age Winter Heating Payment

7 Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts Update – June 2025

8 Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)

9 Age UK calls on everyone to look out for their older family members and friends this winter time

10 Age UK - Rising energy prices and supporting older people this Winter - Parliamentary Briefing - Jan 2022

11 Fuel Poverty (Target, Definition and Strategy) and Fuel Poverty Strategy: health impact assessment

12 Age Scotland: “Turn up the heat this winter to save lives and protect our NHS and social care” (ageuk.org.uk)

13 Pensioner Poverty: challenges and mitigations

14 Key Findings Summary - Scottish House Condition Survey: 2023 Key Findings - gov.scot – Figure 3.5 – Fuel Poverty

15 Relevant Benefits:

• (a)income support under Part 7 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992;
• (b)an income-based jobseeker’s allowance under the Jobseekers Act 1995;
• (c)state pension credit under the State Pension Credit Act 2002;
• (d)an income-related employment and support allowance under Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007;
• (e)universal credit under Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012

16 Summary of Strategic Objectives - National Islands Plan: annual report 2023

17 Scotland's Census 2022: taken from Table UV30

18 The Scottish Islands - The Bestselling Guide to Every Scottish Island by Hamish Haswell-Smith – Canongate Books

19 Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts Update – June 2025

20 Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts – December 2024 | Scottish Fiscal Commission – Supplementary Figures – (Figure 5.2)

21 Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts – December 2024 | Scottish Fiscal Commission – Supplementary Figures – (Figure 5.2)

22 Winter Fuel Payment statistics for winter 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK

23 Analysis received from CAD on Pension Credit Eligibility and Take up– February 2025

24 Chapter 3 Challenges - Rural Scotland Data Dashboard: Overview

25 Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2020-23

26 "Not enough to live on": Pensioner poverty in Scotland (independentage.org)

27 Housing to 2040 - Scottish Government

28 This distributional analysis is conducted using UKMOD microsimulation model and explores the impact of the latest policy in 2025-26. While it is not possible to model all household circumstances, the estimates remain robust: the approach ensures that total spending and caseload broadly align with forecasts from the Scottish Fiscal Commission for different policy options. The latest policy is compared against two counterfactuals: (a) The policy announced at the 2025-26 Scottish Budget, which restricts eligibility of the £203.40 and £305.10 payments to households receiving a qualifying benefit and pays £100 to all other pensioner households; (b) the universal policy which was in effect before 2024.

29 Key Findings Summary - Scottish House Condition Survey: 2023 Key Findings - gov.scot

30 The Cost of Remoteness: Reflecting higher living costs in remote rural Scotland when measuring fuel poverty (www.gov.scot)

31 National Islands Plan: annual report 2023

32 Cost of Living - Winter Heating Payment (Low Income) (Scotland): island communities impact assessment - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

33 Cost of Living - Winter Heating Payment (Low Income) (Scotland): island communities impact assessment - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

34 Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Bill: island communities impact assessment

35 Scotland's Census 2022: Note* Stat was provided by statistician of Census Team taken from Table UV302

36 Scottish Island Region Populations and Households, 2022 – Percentage change overtime

37 Rural Scotland Key Facts 2021 - gov.scot

38 Population of Scottish Island Regions - National Records of Scotland (shinyapps.io)

39 Rural and Regional Disadvantage in the Highlands and Islands - HIE - May 2022

40 Scotland’s Census 2022 (tables UV302 and UV303)

41 Rural Scotland Key Facts 2021

42 Winter Fuel Payments, Great Britain and EEA — Caseload: 2023 to 2024

43 Taking the temperature energy survey | Age Scotland

44 Key Findings Summary - Scottish House Condition Survey: 2023 Key Findings - gov.scot