Scottish Lib Dems respond to cancellation of hard deadline for RTS switch-off

Scottish Liberal Democrats have today responded to the UK Government’s announcement of a more controlled start of the Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) phase out from 30th June, instead of the previously planned hard deadline.

The UK Government has now stated that “people with an RTS meter will not face any unexpected disruption to their heating or hot water at the end of the month”.

The government has also stated that it will continue to meet with Ofgem and Energy UK on a fortnightly basis to review how the gradual and targeted phase out is progressing, with a particular focus on Scotland (where over 100,000 RTS meters remain) as well as remote and rural areas, to ensure all efforts are made to reach these households.

The Northern Isles have been particularly badly affected by the failure to replace RTS meters. In Shetland, for example, more than 4,000 meters still need to be replaced out of around 10,600 households.  

Liberal Democrats will be attending a ministerial roundtable on Thursday morning on the RTS switch-off and will use the meeting to request further detail on the revised plans.

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for Shetland Beatrice Wishart said:

“The hard deadline has been a real source of upset and anxiety for many of my constituents, so I am glad that the government have changed course.

“Energy companies knew for at least a decade that this technology was obsolete and would have to be phased out, but they still chose the ‘do nothing’ option. Their careless approach has caused so much distress among rural communities and they should now be moving heaven and earth to fix things.

“Today’s news cannot be a substitute for replacing meters at the pace required. That would only push this mess into the winter months, where the impact of being left with no heating or hot water could be devastating.

“It is far from clear how a phased switch-off will work. That is why I will be using tomorrow’s roundtable to press the minister and energy companies for more detail on these plans.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for Orkney Liam McArthur said:

“I know that many of my constituents will be relieved by today’s news, but angry that it has come to this point.

“All of this could have been avoided if energy companies had been far more proactive about replacing RTS meters from the beginning. Despite knowing about the looming deadline for years, and after the postponement of an earlier deadline, they only started to act at the eleventh hour.  

“The RTS technology is on its last legs, however, so while this announcement buys more time, the focus must be on switching households away from RTS meters as fast as possible. Given the ongoing uncertainty about how the phased switch-off will work in practice, the UK Government must spell out in detail what is planned going forward.”