THE number of households in fuel poverty in Scotland fell by almost 100,000 last year.

Campaigners have welcomed the drop but say the number of fuel-poor households remains “unacceptably high”.

Official statistics showed a reduction from 748,000 in 2015 to 649,000 in 2016. Almost two-thirds of the decrease was attributed to lower energy prices.

A household is in fuel poverty if, in order to maintain a satisfactory heating regime, it would be required to spend more than 10 per cent of its income on all fuel use.

The 2016 figure represented 30.7 per cent of Scottish households, while for 2017 it was 26.5 per cent.

Almost two-thirds – 2.7 percentage points – of the fall was put down to the lower price of domestic fuels and about 1.5 points to improvements in the energy efficiency of housing.

Housing minister Kevin Stewart said: “While this is obviously welcome news, we will continue to take action across government to reduce fuel poverty in Scotland.

“That is why we currently have a consultation on a new fuel poverty strategy, including setting new statutory targets and a revised definition of fuel poverty that will place a greater emphasis on households with lower incomes and high housing and fuel costs.”

Sarah Beattie-Smith of WWF Scotland said: “While the decline in the number of households living in fuel poverty is welcome news, at nearly 27 per cent of all homes the level is still unacceptably high.”

She called for increased investment in energy efficiency and the use of next year’s Warm Homes Bill “to set ambitious new targets and milestones for a transformation of Scotland’s homes over the coming decades”.

Sarah Boyack of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations said: “The figures demonstrate that social landlords need more support to further improve the energy efficiency of their stock.”