UK policies sparking fuel poverty crisis charities warn

More than 100 energy companies, charities and businesses have joined forces to warn David Cameron that Britain is heading for a fuel poverty crisis owing to a failure of government policy.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, they argue that ministers are not doing enough to tackle soaring gas and electricity bills that leave a growing number of people unable to heat their homes.

The alliance, which includes the Age UK network, Npower, the Co-operative and Barnardo's, urges Mr Cameron to use money raised from the carbon tax to be levied from April to tackle the national disgrace of cold homes. The alliance believes that a programme to fit houses with proper insulation would protect the vulnerable, help the environment and boost the economy.

With temperatures in many parts of the UK at their lowest of the winter and further snowfall forecast, the organisations, working under the banner of the Energy Bill Revolution campaign, say that 6 million households are affected by fuel poverty.

Fuel Poverty is measured by a household having to spend in excess of 10 per cent of their income keeping rooms at an adequate temperature. Stagnating wages and soaring bills mean that up to 9 million homes could be affected by 2016. The alliance is also warning that two initiatives to be introduced next week, the Green Deal and the Energy Company Obligation, are not sufficient to halt the growth of fuel poverty or end hardship.

Greg McCracken, Age Scotland's spokesman on Fuel Poverty, says: "The only way to tackle the problem in the long term, is by embarking on a nationwide programme to retrofit insulation — a move that would save the average family £310 a year on energy bills.

"This could be funded using revenue from George Osborne's tax on CO2 production by industry, expected to yield £2 billion a year, rising to £4 billion from 2020.

"It is common knowledge that people on low fixed incomes such as pensioners are particularly vulnerable to rising fuel costs so it's crucial that the UK Government take action. We know the damage that sitting in a cold home, worrying about the cost of putting the heating on can do to people; it exacerbates illness, induces unhappiness and depression and excludes people from society.

"We also know that energy prices will continue to rise — that is inevitable, so if we don't tackle this issue now, we will soon see the numbers of people in fuel poverty soar."