Fuel poverty ‘will claim 2,700 victims this winter’
This article explains how at the Spending Review in October 2010 the Government announced it would commission an independent review to take a fresh look at the fuel poverty target and definition.
On 14 March 2011 the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne MP, announced that Professor John Hills had been requested to undertake this review.
On 19 October 2011, Professor Hills published his interim report. This report sets out how:
- Between 2004 and 2009 the “fuel poverty gap” (the extra amount those with badly insulated homes and poor heating systems would need to spend to keep warm) increased by 50% to £1.1bn as a result of rising fuel prices.
- By the end of this year, 4.1 million households in England are expected to be in fuel poverty.
- Almost 3,000 people in England and Wales will die this winter because they cannot afford to heat their homes
RSN have previously made and will continue to make the case that this a deadly issue in ruralEngland. I hope those responsible for the current hike in fuel prices and profits in the “big 6” energy companies are reflecting on this report!