Energy News

Fuel poverty “will kill thousands” this winter

Thursday 20 October, 2011

By Martin Fagan

Almost 3,000 people in England and Wales die each year as a result of fuel poverty, an inquiry has found

Almost 3,000 Brits will die this coming winter because rising energy bills are pushing more and more people into fuel poverty, according to an authoritative study.

The independent review of fuel poverty by Professor John Hills of the London School of Economics, commissioned by the Department for Energy and Climate Change, looked at the problem of fuel poverty and the way it is measured.

In his findings, Professor Hills said that if only 10% of all winter-related deaths were attributable to fuel poverty, then 2,700 people perish every year as a direct result of being fuel poor - more than die on the roads.

The report found that between 2004 and 2009 the “fuel poverty gap” for low income households - the amount extra that those with badly insulated homes and poor heating systems would need to spend to keep warm - increased by 50%, from £740 million to £1.1 billion - a figure calculated before the most recent price increases were made.

According to the report, although the current definition of fuel poverty is the correct one, the way fuel poverty was measured "painted a false picture about how well we were addressing it". Households are defined as “fuel poor” if they need to spend more than 10% of their income on fuel to heat a home to an adequate standard of warmth.

The report found that fuel poverty is a "distinct issue and a serious problem," and that the main causes are low income, energy efficiency and fuel prices.

"We think that people dying on the roads is a very big problem, so [therefore] this is a very big problem,” said Professor Hills.

"There's also evidence of people having to face the ‘heat or eat’ trade-off dilemma."

Following price rises by the “big six” energy companies and widespread belief that the government’s renewable energy strategy will hike bills even further, the report hammers home to the government that unaffordable bills will cause the deaths of thousands of its most vulnerable constituents.

Responding to the report’s findings, Gillian Guy, chief executive at charity Citizens Advice, said: "It's horrifying that so many people are dying each year because they can't afford to heat their home.

“Professor Hills is right to stick by the current definition of fuel poverty because it focuses attention on the right people. Today's report is yet another reminder that fuel costs just have to come down."