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Source : Press Association Published on 15 March 2012 12:00 PM
English low-income earners, paying energy costs above the typical level, faced a total of £1.1 billion more in heating costs than middle or high-income earners in 2009, according to a new fuel poverty report.
The independent review by Professor John Hills used a new way of measuring fuel poverty, taking into account the number of people affected and the severity of the issue.
It found that almost 8 million English people in 2.7 million households were on a low income while facing high energy costs three years ago - an increase of 75% compared to back in 2003.
The review also predicted that the fuel poverty gap will rise to £1.7 billion by 2016, which means low-income earners will have to spend almost £600 more on energy costs per year than wealthier households with typical costs.
Professor Hills said: 'There is no doubt that fuel poverty is a serious national problem - increasing hardship, contributing to winter deaths and other health problems, and blocking policies to combat climate change. But the official measure has fed complacency at times and gloom about the impact of policies at others.
'When one focuses on the core of the problem in the way I propose, the outlook is profoundly disappointing, with the scale of the problem heading to be nearly three times higher in 2016 - the date legislation set for its elimination - than in 2003.
'But this daunting problem is one with solutions. Our analysis shows that improving the housing of those at risk is the most cost-effective way of tackling the problem, cutting energy waste, with large long-term benefits to society as a whole. We need a renewed and ambitious strategy to do this.'
Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director General of Age UK said: 'Over the last decade the Labour and then Coalition governments have been fighting a losing the battle against fuel poverty. The Hills review states that the fuel poverty gap will rise by a further half to £1.7 billion by 2016 and the interventions currently planned will only reduce the problem by a tenth. The figures quite frankly do not add up and we fully support Hills’ call for an immediate, revised and ambitious strategy to deal with fuel poverty.'Age UK fears that the current proposals to improve energy efficiency through the Green Deal and Energy Obligation Schemes are a woefully inadequate response to one of the most serious issues facing our country today. Hills’ analysis provides all the evidence needed and the Government must make a major investment to improve housing stock. We want to see fuel poor households prioritised in this programme.'
'The number of households in fuel poverty increased to five million by the end of 2011 with nearly a quarter of those households including an older person. Even more shocking is the fact that there are 200 excess winter deaths a day due to our society’s inability to cope with the effects of cold weather.'
Copyright Press Association 2012
In the following short film produced for Sport Relief, two older people talk about the harsh reality of living in fuel poverty:
Two older people talk about living in fuel poverty - In this short film produced for Sport Relief two older people share their own experiences of living in fuel poverty talking about whats it like to feel constantly cold and worried about how to afford heating To support Age UKs campaign to tackle the shocking fact that 1 in 4 pensioners in the UK live in fuel poverty visit wwwageukorgukreducingwinterdeaths
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We have a number of experts available for comment, including:
Michelle Mitchell
Michelle has responsibility for a broad range of Age UK’s domestic charitable work, including external affairs, research and Age UK’s charitable service delivery and development.
Michelle was previously Communications Director for Age Concern England and Chair of the Fawcett Society (2005-2008).
Michelle has a BA in Economics, MA in Politics and Administration, an International Executive Diploma from INSEAD and has completed the Innovations in Government Programme at Harvard University JFK School.
Caroline Abrahams
Caroline Abrahams is Age UK’s recently appointed Director of External Affairs and has worked predominantly on children and family issues throughout her career.
She was Director of Policy and Strategy at the children’s charity Action for Children and Chair of the End Child Poverty campaign before joining the Local Government Association.
She then moved on to become Senior Policy Adviser in the Department for Children, Schools and Families and more recently she has been an adviser to the Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls.
Her policy interests include poverty, public service reform and safeguarding.
James Goodwin
James is head of our research department in Age UK.
His responsibilities include:
He has a Visiting Professorship in Ageing at Loughborough University.
Jane Vass
Jane Vass is Head of Public Policy at Age UK. She joined Age Concern England as Financial Services Policy Adviser in 2006.
She was previously an independent consumer consultant and writer specialising in financial services from the consumer viewpoint.
In this capacity she undertook research such as reports for the National Consumer Council on equity release and on savings and investments for low-income consumers.
She was a member of the Financial Services Consumer Panel from 1999 to 2003, and from 1983 to 1993 she worked for Consumers’ Association.
This factsheet, which is regularly updated, is the most up-to-date source of publicly-available, general information on people in later life in the UK.
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