Heating help for disabled

Terminally ill and severely disabled people will shortly be able to get help to heat their homes.

New measures will allow up to 48,000 people with severe disabilities to access a range of free help from the Scottish Government, including repairing or replacing their central heating system, fitting insulation or draught-proofing their home.

Terminally ill patients who are finding it hard to heat their homes will also be given support, for example, to repair a broken heating system.

Help will be provided through the Scottish Government's Home Energy Scotland service which provides a wide range of free or discounted help for low-income households.

Housing minister Alex Neil said: "We know many vulnerable people will have a lack of income but will need to heat their homes at a higher temperature and for longer periods throughout the day."