Around 30 workers in the local economy risk losing their jobs because of national changes to installing insulation.
Islanders are overwhelming rejecting plans to insulate their homes due to new regulations brought in by UK and Scottish Governments.
Under the incoming standards -
Holes would be drilled into walls to install a permanent fixed vent in rooms such as the kitchen, bathroom, utility or ensuite toilet. But it’s not so easy cutting through the hard Lewisian gneiss many island traditional homes are built from.
Trickle vents of 1.2 metre length -
And the final straw for most is the idea of cutting internal door bottoms to ensure a two centimetre gap and increase air circulation.
Householders living in the windswept islands shy away from the idea of having increased airflow in their homes when they seek to make them warmer. Also a deterrent is the extra time and hassle involved in the work.
Around 14 people employed by Tighean Innse Gall (TIG) are being made redundant as its insulation department closes down. Major restructuring involving remaining staff will also take place.
Up to a further 20 jobs in the local supply chain are at risk due to the knock-
TIG said the application of ventilation systems’ requirements are being “imposed not only by a distant UK government but also by Holyrood which adopted them and in effect simply ignored the implications for island homes.”
Brian Chaplin, chair of Tighean Innse Gall management committee, said: “We are committed to providing services which meet community needs – affordable housing, adaptations in the home for those with disabilities or special needs and desperately needed energy advice as utility bills explode.
“If ever there was a time for TIG it is now, but we have been hit by the perfect storm of regulatory changes which make no sense, government intransigence, worldwide supply shortages and like a roof in a gale we are being battered.
“But Tighean Innse Gall will stand, and work with partners to help protect our communities through a reduced but effective range of services.”
MSP Alasdair Allan said: “I have been working with Tighean Innse Gall since October to highlight the issues they outlined with the new ventilation standards to the relevant Minister and government officials.
“While [Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings] Patrick Harvie confirmed recently that his officials were in discussions with the British Standards Institute about the suitability of these standards for coastal areas such as the Western Isles, there needs to be an alternative solution urgently put in place to allow organisations to continue to help local people improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
“TIG’s decision to cease their administration of government funded insulation projects is not one which will have been taken lightly, and reflects the seriousness of the problem at hand.
“In one of the areas worst affected by fuel poverty in the whole of Europe, it is imperative that funded energy efficiency measures are continued, and that the necessary changes are made to be able to allow this.
“Against the backdrop of the energy bills crisis, which will hit rural areas hardest, it does not make sense to continue to apply unsuitable ventilation standards which could make homes draughtier leading to even higher heating costs.
“I have today tabled another written Parliamentary question about this matter and have asked to meet ministers again to press for solutions.”
Insulation scheme job losses as islanders daunted by new rules
3 March 2022
