The cost of living is particularly acute in the Highlands, a new report has warned. (Photo: istock gregory_lee)Plans to devolve more powers to the Highlands “must” address the Highland region’s cost-of-living premium, a new report has warned. Published this week, the report said that one-in-three Highland households are living in fuel poverty, and that families in remote areas pay around £1000 more each year on energy than the Scottish average. Angus MacDonald’s report argues that any new settlement must reflect the realities of rural life, rather than simply replicate models developed for England’s city regions. They are the consequence of years of policies that have failed to account for the realities of rural living.