A COUNCILLOR has warned that we must be prepared to establish warm banks in our communities ahead of rising energy costs this winter.

David Barratt, who represents the Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay ward, wants plans in place to support those who are most vulnerable before the colder months.

Sharing a post on his Facebook page, he wrote: “The latest estimates for energy bills are a disaster for thousands of households. With predictions of the AVERAGE household bill in January alone being £500, I know there will be families locally who can’t even begin to budget for this.

“The council is going to be very limited in what can be achieved within limited resources, but a plan needs to be formed ahead of the winter to support our most vulnerable residents.

“We’ve all become depressingly used to the idea of a foodbank as an essential part of the community, but we will likely be hearing more about warm banks this winter.

"Serious consideration should be given to ensuring every community has somewhere local that will be kept warm and where those struggling to heat their homes can visit.

“I’m aware the provision of warm banks is something other areas have already trialled and I expect we’ll have to do the same in Fife.”

He told the Press: “It’s not something I had come across until a few weeks ago when someone approached me about it. I suppose it does what it says on the tin, it will be a place that will be kept warm throughout the day for anyone to come to for a bit of respite if they’re struggling to afford to heat their house.

“In the same way that you’d use a foodbank to get a bit of help with food, then you can pop in, at least keep warm for a few hours. It might be that a lot of it is use of existing facilities like the local library or sports centre, just somewhere that you don’t need to pay to come in and just have a sit down and catch up with folk. It can be a social thing as well.

“I think we just need to look at making sure that we’ve got some kind of facility like that in every community across Fife to make sure that nobody is sitting at home cold and unable to get any kind of warmth into them whatsoever.”

Cllr Barratt added: “We’ll certainly be discussing issues around the cost of living crisis and seeing what can be done locally but I think it needs to be done on a Fife-wide basis. I know it will affect all of Fife and I will certainly raise it to ensure we've got a strategy across the whole region.”