Maxwell, who is in London to attend the Fuel Poverty Summit, will urge Westminster not to leave Scots “out in the cold”.

Maxwell said:

"Recent official statistics show that nearly a quarter of Scottish households - more than half a million - are still living in fuel poverty. In a modern Scotland, those statistics are a national disgrace.”

He said that while most of the efforts to tackle fuel poverty focus on energy efficiency, most of the mechanisms to raise people’s incomes remain reserved to Westminster, and he said the Scottish Government believes that greater fiscal autonomy would help alleviate fuel poverty in Scotland.

He continued:

"Efforts to end fuel poverty are also being thwarted by high fuel prices, which are determined by the commercial decisions of private companies.

"Today I will strenuously pursue the issue of fuel poverty with my UK counterparts and the energy companies, urging them not to leave Scots out in the cold.

"I will restate the case for the UK Ministerial Fuel Poverty Group to reconvene immediately, to allow all the relevant partners, including members from the devolved administrations, to have their say on the matter.”