More elderly people could die of cold as the Government will be able to escape responsibility for heating and insulation costs
More elderly people could die of cold because ministers are set to water down their commitment to tackle fuel poverty, Labour has warned.
Energy Secretary Ed Davey is seeking to ditch a long-standing pledge to “eradicate” fuel poverty by 2016.
He is amending the Energy Bill so it includes a weaker promise to “address” the issue.
Campaigners fear the move will see more elderly people die of cold as it could allow the Government to escape its responsibility for helping the vulnerable with heating and insulation costs.
The Government has already changed the way it calculates fuel poverty. Until July this year anyone who spent more than 10% of their income on heating costs was judged to be in need of help.
But the new definition only includes households whose total income is “below the poverty line” and where “energy costs are higher than typical”.
As a result, the Government was able to claim the number of houses in fuel poverty has fallen from 3.2million to 2.4million.
Labour MP Chris Williamson is now trying to amend the Energy Bill to bring in a pledge to “eradicate” fuel poverty by 2020.
His amendment is supported by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition (EFPC) - an alliance of more than 50 organisations including Age UK, Save the Children, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, National Energy Action, Friends of the Earth, Association for the Conservation of Energy and Consumer Futures.
Mr Williamson said: “When someone dies because they live in a cold home it is not an accident; it is entirely avoidable. What the Government is proposing is inexcusable.
“Energy prices are spiralling and weather reports predict another arctic winter. Now panicked ministers have responded by talking about cutting green taxes.
“But that is just a smokescreen and obscures the fact that they’re slashing billions from housing renewal programmes that could be used to insulate cold homes.
“If Parliament accepts my amendment the effects would be significant. It would save lives, reduce NHS spending on treating the ill-health caused by fuel poverty and generate around 130,000 jobs.”
The intervention came as research from the campaign group Energy Bill Revolution found that spending on tackling fuel poverty was £3.7billion lower than it would have been had levels set by the previous Labour Government been maintained.
And spending on energy efficiency schemes is set to fall from £591million in 2009/10 to £473million in 2014/5.
Mirror
Energy Secretary Ed Davey is seeking to ditch a long-standing pledge to “eradicate” fuel poverty by 2016.
He is amending the Energy Bill so it includes a weaker promise to “address” the issue.
Campaigners fear the move will see more elderly people die of cold as it could allow the Government to escape its responsibility for helping the vulnerable with heating and insulation costs.
The Government has already changed the way it calculates fuel poverty. Until July this year anyone who spent more than 10% of their income on heating costs was judged to be in need of help.
But the new definition only includes households whose total income is “below the poverty line” and where “energy costs are higher than typical”.
As a result, the Government was able to claim the number of houses in fuel poverty has fallen from 3.2million to 2.4million.
Labour MP Chris Williamson is now trying to amend the Energy Bill to bring in a pledge to “eradicate” fuel poverty by 2020.
His amendment is supported by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition (EFPC) - an alliance of more than 50 organisations including Age UK, Save the Children, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, National Energy Action, Friends of the Earth, Association for the Conservation of Energy and Consumer Futures.
Mr Williamson said: “When someone dies because they live in a cold home it is not an accident; it is entirely avoidable. What the Government is proposing is inexcusable.
“Energy prices are spiralling and weather reports predict another arctic winter. Now panicked ministers have responded by talking about cutting green taxes.
“But that is just a smokescreen and obscures the fact that they’re slashing billions from housing renewal programmes that could be used to insulate cold homes.
“If Parliament accepts my amendment the effects would be significant. It would save lives, reduce NHS spending on treating the ill-health caused by fuel poverty and generate around 130,000 jobs.”
The intervention came as research from the campaign group Energy Bill Revolution found that spending on tackling fuel poverty was £3.7billion lower than it would have been had levels set by the previous Labour Government been maintained.
And spending on energy efficiency schemes is set to fall from £591million in 2009/10 to £473million in 2014/5.
Mirror
