Winter-Related Deaths

That the Parliament notes with great concern that experts are forecasting an extremely severe winter; agrees that free central heating is a very laudable flagship policy but notes that, sadly, it is not being delivered at the point of need, as borne out by the fact that over 8,000 senior citizens in Scotland have succumbed to winter-related deaths in the last three winters and, for example in Glasgow, where one-in-36 senior citizens are at risk of dying of cold-related deaths, that, out of 3,297 applications for free central heating, 65% of applications have been rejected and only 1,177 systems installed; notes that this is either due to too high criteria being applied to these applications or perhaps too much red tape, resulting in refusals for the installation of new central heating systems, and further notes that, if this 65% rejection rate is replicated across the country, the deplorable record of deaths due to winter-related cold will inevitably result in a further increase in these statistics which are already at an unacceptable level.