The money will help fuel poor and vulnerable households and fund energy efficiency improvements such as solid wall, cavity and loft insulation.

The lump sum for 2015 came from the Scottish Government’s Home Energy Efficiency Programme for Scotland, a £60 million fund used to tackle fuel poverty.

Scottish housing minister Margaret Burgess said: “The Scottish Government is helping people keep their homes warm. We will spend £94 million across Scotland next year and this allocation will help households in the most fuel poor areas stay warm and cut energy bills.

“The Scottish Government can’t control fuel prices but we are investing in energy efficiency for homes. We have invested over £300 million since 2009 to make fuel poor homes more energy efficient and around one in three Scottish households, over 700,000, have now benefited from measures like new boilers or insulation.

“With winter weather taking hold across Scotland, I’d encourage anyone to seek free and impartial advice on how they can reduce their energy costs. Help on how to save money or receive support for home insulation, boilers or central heating is available by contacting Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282 or visiting the website at www.homeenergyscotland.org.”