Rising energy, fuel and food costs are putting further pressure on families and making the fight against child poverty harder, according to the SNP as it calls for targeted help in the forthcoming UK Budget.
The party is using Challenge Poverty Week to press Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government for measures to reduce energy costs and fuel duty, claiming the combined increase in essential household bills is now squeezing the average Scottish family budget by around £3,000 a year.
The figures are being presented by the SNP as evidence that increasing everyday costs risk working against efforts elsewhere in government to reduce poverty and improve household incomes.
Energy costs are among the most immediate concerns, with forecasts pointing towards another substantial increase in household bills from January, although the final price cap for the first three months of 2027 has yet to be confirmed.
The party is also calling for action on fuel duty as motorists face higher petrol and diesel costs, with particular concern about the impact on households dependent on more than one vehicle.
For many families across the Highlands and Islands, where travelling longer distances for work, education, healthcare and everyday services can make both household energy and transport costs particularly difficult to avoid, changes in either can quickly eat into disposable income.
The SNP also claims the average family of four is paying around £1,456 more each year for food than before Labour took office, forming another part of its calculation of the additional pressure facing household budgets.
SNP MSP Alan Brown said:
“Scottish families are seeing their household budgets squeezed by £3,000 under the UK Labour Government, that is holding back our fight to eradicate child poverty.
“Andy Burnham must put that money back into family pockets, this would immediately lift thousands of struggling families above the breadline.
“The Labour Party promised they’d cut bills by £300, but they’re set to be £1,000 higher than that pledge and to make matters worse, energy rich Scots are paying through the nose at the pump as diesel and petrol prices spiral out of control.
“Under Westminster control, energy rich Scots are set to be inflicted with massive increases to their heating bills.
“For people in a nation with our energy resources and offshore industry to be left struggling to afford their energy bills is a disgrace.
“Every rising energy bill makes the clear case that Scotland’s energy should be in Scotland’s hands.
“Energy rich Scots should never be fuel poor and that’s exactly why we need a fresh start with independence.”
The UK Government has already extended the existing fuel duty cut until the end of December, meaning decisions taken in the Budget will help determine what motorists pay from the beginning of 2027.
The final level of January’s household energy price cap will also be crucial, with recent forecasts differing over the precise increase but consistently pointing towards another rise during the coldest part of the year.
With food, heating and transport among the expenses families have least room to avoid, the argument heading into the Budget is increasingly about how much more pressure household finances can absorb before the wider consequences are felt.
