Archived press release

Soaring winter deaths emphasise need for warm homes bill

16 November 2000

But Hope at Hand With Passing of Warm Homes Bill
The number of “excess winter deaths” soared across every region in England last year, as the country's fuel poverty scandal continues. The figure shows by how much the death rate increases during the winter months.

The UK has one of the worst records for winter deaths in the developed world,and far worse than for any other European country. Studies have shown that while the UK death rate rises by 30% during winter, the rise in Norway and Sweden - where average temperatures are lower - is closer to 10%. Up to 8 million households in the UK suffer from cold homes. The elderly and young children are particularly at risk from cold-related illnesses.

But hope is at hand, with the passing of the Warm Homes Bill, expected to become law following its final stages in the House of Lords this Thursday (16thNovember). The Bill was promoted by David Amess MP (Conservative,Southend West). It requires the Government to ensure that every home in the England and Wales is effectively insulated within 15 years.

EXCESS WINTER DEATHS: 1999 - 2000 by region (provisional)

In 1996 - 1997, excess deaths in England totalled 44,850, and in Wales the figure was 2,880)

[Source: Lords Hansard, Written Answers, Column WA 149, 8th November 2000)

Fuel poverty particularly hits the elderly and other vulnerable groups, who struggle to pay their fuel bills and cannot raise the capital to help make their homes more energy efficient. Winter fuel payments introduced by this Government are only a limited help, as people in energy inefficient homes are simply paying to “heat the skies over their house”.

Commenting, Martyn Williams, Parliamentary Co-ordinator of Friends of the Earth and organiser of the Campaign for the Warm Homes Bill said:

“The latest figures for excess winter are truly shocking. Every year thousands of the most vulnerable people in Britain die because their homes are not properly kept warm. The Warm Homes Bill will finally force the Government to act to end this scandal. Its passage through the House of Lords this Thursday will be a great victory at the end of a long campaign. Pensioners all over the country can sleep a little safer as a result.”

David Amess MP said:

“This new law is an absolute guarantee that Governments will solve our cold homes crisis. I urge the Government to do this even more quickly than the 15-years the Bill allows them. We cannot act quickly enough to tackle cold homes, and the deaths, misery and suffering that they cause.”

NOTES

1. The programme required by the Warm Homes Bill would pay for itself over its lifetime through savings made in health spending, job creation and public sector housing maintenance. The cost of treating “cold-related illnesses” to the National Health Service is estimated at £1 billion every year. Almost 30,000 jobs could be created by the programme, and the management and maintenance bill for public sector housing would be cut as the need for damp and rot related repairs would be reduced.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust