The Government must tackle the national scandal of fuel poverty by stopping homes leaking heat and reducing the nation’s reliance on increasingly expensive fossil fuels, Friends of the Earth said as official statistics released today [Thursday 17 May 2012] reveal that fuel poverty fell in 2010 – but almost a fifth of UK households still couldn’t heat their homes adequately.

The reduction was due to rising incomes and energy efficiency programmes under the previous Government – which outweighed the impact of rising energy prices.

Between 2009 and 2010, fuel poverty fell from 5.5m households to 4.75m households - the first fall in fuel poverty since 2003. However this still left 19 per cent of UK households suffering fuel poverty. And Government projections for England show that fuel poverty numbers in 2012 could be back to their 2009 high.

The environment charity also highlighted the fact that today’s figures reveal that the top four worst constituencies for fuel poverty in England are represented by Coalition MPs – Bill Wiggin, Philip Dunne and Rory Stewart (Cons) and Alan Beith (Lib Dem).

Friends of the Earth’s Executive Director Andy Atkins said:

“Energy efficiency measures played a significant role in cutting the number of households in fuel poverty in 2010 - so it’s a disgrace that the current Government has slashed funds for better insulation and heating in low-income households.

“It’s a national scandal that rising gas prices and heat-leaking homes have left millions shivering – and thousands dying – in the cold.

“Ministers must end the fuel poverty crisis with a major drive to fix poorly-insulated homes and shift to clean British energy from water, wind and the sun.”

Friends of the Earth says the Government’s proposed energy efficiency plans will not tackle fuel poverty. Its flagship Green Deal – a long-term loan paid back through an addition to the household's energy bill (which should be lower overall thanks to the energy efficiency measures) – may be attractive to better-off families who can afford repayments, but unless the proposals are radically changed it will do little to help those in fuel poverty.

And a soon-to-be-introduced obligation on big energy firms to pay for energy efficiency measures will fall far short of delivering the necessary funds, the environment charity says. It’s urging the Government to provide the significant additional funding needed to tackle fuel poverty by using the revenue it will receive in years ahead from taxes on carbon pollution.

Andy Atkins said:

“The Government must do much more to fight fuel poverty – huge improvements could be made by using the cash raised by new taxes on carbon pollution.

“Making the homes of those on low incomes more energy efficient will not only help end fuel poverty – it will create new jobs, slash emissions and reduce the cost to the NHS of treating cold-related illnesses.”

ENDS

 Notes to editors:  

1.         The ten worst constituencies for fuel poverty (percentage of households in fuel poverty) and their MPs (2010 stats for England only, released today)

North Herefordshire, West Midlands             29.8%     Bill Wiggin                  Con
Ludlow, West Midlands                                    29.1%     Philip Dunne              Con
Penrith and The Border, North West              27.8%     Rory Stewart              Con
Berwick-upon-Tweed, North East                   26.9%     Alan Beith                   Lib Dem
Warley, West Midlands                                      26.7%     John Spellar              Lab
Stoke-on-Trent Central, West Midlands         26.0%     Tristram Hunt            Lab
Birmingham, Perry Barr, West Midlands        25.9%     Khallid Mahmood     Lab
Birmingham, Hodge Hill, West Midlands       25.8%     Liam Byrne                Lab
Manchester, Gorton, North West                      25.7%     Gerald Kaufman       Lab
Middlesbrough, North East                               25.4%     Stuart Bell                   Lab

2. Friends of the Earth is a founder member of the Energy Bill Revolution campaign (www.energybillrevolution.org.uk) which is calling for the Government to use the revenue it will receive from the planned Carbon Floor Price tax and the sale of emission permits under the European Emissions Trading Scheme to boost spending on energy efficiency schemes for low-income and fuel poor households. It is estimated that the Treasury will receive on average £4bn annually on average from these two schemes over the next 15 years. If this was re-invested in energy efficiency it could take 9 out of 10 households out of fuel poverty. The Energy Bill Revolution campaign is supported by over 70 organisations including Barnardo’s, Consumer Focus, The Co-operative, MacMillan Cancer Support and Save the Children.

3.    The Government’s recent independent review of fuel poverty by Professor John Hills of the London School of Economics (published in March 2012) found that improving the energy efficiency of the homes of those at risk of fuel poverty was the most cost effective policy at tackling the problem and called for a “renewed and ambitious strategy to do this”. For more information see here.

4.   Friends of the Earth’s Clean British Energy campaign is urging the Government to listen to the public and transform our broken energy system by developing clean and affordable power from our wind, sun and water – backed by 85 per cent of the public. For too long the Big Six energy companies have locked Britain into importing costly gas and coal – causing our fuel bills to rocket. Backing renewable power and cutting energy waste will stabilise fuel bills and create new jobs. To find out more visit: www.cleanbritishenergy.co.uk