The Affordable Warmth Scheme was introduced in 2013 to provide funding for householders on state benefits to replace old, inefficient gas central heating boilers.
The intention was to help those vulnerable families who may be suffering from fuel poverty, to reduce their heating bills. At the same time, by replacing inefficient boilers with energy efficient boilers, energy usage would fall and so would carbon emissions.
The Government recognised that householders with electric storage heaters, oil-fired boilers and LPG boilers were not being treated fairly.
The Affordable Warmth Scheme has now been changed to offer Storage Heater Grants in Scotland.
Scotland has a high proportion of homes without a mains gas supply
This map of the UK shows which regions have the lowest proportion of homes without a mains gas supply.
The darker the area, the lower the proportion of homes which have to rely on electric storage heaters, oil boilers and LPG boilers because they have no access to mains gas.
The areas on the map shown in white have between 5% and 15% of homes without mains gas, whilst the areas shown in dark blue have over 85% of homes with no access to mains gas.
As can be seen on this map of the UK, the main areas shaded in dark blue are Devon and Cornwall, Cumbria, North Yorkshire, Northern Scotland, Central Wales, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
The Affordable Warmth Scheme now provides storage heater grants in Cornwall and in all other areas where access to mains gas is limited
The Affordable Warmth Scheme now provides storage heater grants in Scotland and in all other areas where access to mains gas is limited.
