Freedom Central » Fuel poverty

Welsh Government not doing enough to fight fuel poverty

Peter Black — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 05:46:09 +0000

The percentage of extra winter deaths in Wales last year was the highest in England and Wales, figures released earlier this week have shown. Wales had the highest Excess Winter Mortality (EWM) index in 2010/11.

It is the first time Wales has had the highest EWM index in England and Wales for over 20 years.

There was an estimated 1,900 more deaths in Wales in the four months of winter 2010/11 than in the non-winter period. Wales’ index of excess winter deaths increased by nearly 3% when compared to the previous year.

There is growing consensus that the Welsh government’s measures to tackle fuel poverty aren’t anywhere near enough.

In a civilized society, vulnerable people should not have to worry about whether or not they can afford to heat their homes.

Not a single person in Wales should be forced to live in a freezing home, which is why the Welsh Liberal Democrat manifesto committed the party to increase the resources available to tackle fuel poverty.

The energy efficiency of homes in Wales needs to be radically overhauled as a matter of urgency. People are struggling to pay their ever increasing fuel bills and they are not getting the support they desperately need from the government.

Welsh Liberal Democrats call for doubling the resources to tackle fuel poverty

Kirsty Williams — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 06:04:09 +0000

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have called for a new focus on tackling fuel poverty. Recent figures have revealed that 200,000 more households are now living in fuel poverty than in 2004.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats want to:

· Ensure that people eligible for the Green Deal scheme are offered information on that programme;

· Ensure that people entering Welsh Government fuel poverty programmes are either highly fuel poor or living in off-gas areas;

· Deliver an additional 12,000 warmer homes by doubling the money available for tackling fuel poverty; and

· Provide accurate data on fuel poverty for planning and ensure good information is available across the public sector and to consumers.

It is nothing short of a disgrace that so many vulnerable people in Wales face a choice of heating or eating. The Labour-Plaid government talks the talk on fuel poverty but the reality is that 200,000 more households are now living in fuel poverty than were doing in 2004, an increase of nearly 250%.

Welsh Liberal Democrats believe that going green must not only be for those who can afford it. Everyone deserves affordable warm homes.

Welsh Liberal Democrats will radically overhaul the energy efficiency of Welsh homes by promoting the UK Government’s ‘Green Deal’ scheme in Wales and doubling the money available for tackling fuel poverty.

Welsh Government inaction as Fuel Poverty soars

Kirsty Williams — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:47:04 +0000

Newly released figures that show a staggering 200,000 more households are now living in fuel poverty than were doing so in 2004 must raise questions as to whether the Welsh Government’s Fuel Poverty alleviation measures are being targeted in the right way. The recent heavy snowfall and continuing freezing temperatures have brought the issue back into the limelight.

We’ve seen continuing significant snowfall across large parts of Wales in the past weeks, and if the severe winter continues, people are going to really struggle with bills and yet again be faced with the choice of heating or eating. In the 21st Century, this is nothing short of a disgrace.

I said when the Labour-Plaid government published their fuel poverty strategy earlier this year that it was not going to be targeted properly as it was based on figures from 2004. Now, we see that since then the number of households in fuel poverty has more than doubled.

How can the Minister argue that the strategy is going to work given that the figures used to inform it are so massively out of line with reality? I am pleased that the coalition government in Westminster is protecting the winter fuel allowance for the more elderly in the community, and it is high time that the Welsh government played their part in protecting welsh citizens during the colder months.

The scandal of “excess winter deaths”

Freedom Central — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:41:46 +0000

The Welsh Liberal Democrat’s Social Justice Spokesperson, Eleanor Burnham, has branded the Labour-Plaid Government’s inaction on fuel poverty an “utter disgrace”. Speaking in the wake of new “excess winter deaths” figures released by the Office of National Statistics, Eleanor said:

“These appalling new figures show that excess winter deaths for Wales in the period 2008/09 went up from 1440 to 2500 – a shocking increase of 70% on the previous year.

“The number of older people dying in Wales between the months of December and March has almost doubled. It is yet another shocking indictment of the Labour-Plaid government’s failure to grasp the nettle.

“Age Concern and Help the Aged have called it a “national scandal” and I agree with them.

“Today in the Siambr I called on the Leader of the House to arrange an urgent debate on the increases in excess winter deaths. I’m sorry to say that he didn’t even know about the new figures.

“This is a very serious issue to many people in Wales, including my own constituents across North Wales, and I expect the Labour-Plaid government to shoulder its responsibilities to the people who elected them”.

Benefits of Fuel Poverty Bill blunted by Barnett

Freedom Central — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:43:00 +0000

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have today outlined their backing for the Fuel Poverty Bill, but have warned that Wales would not see the full benefits of the Bill if it is passed because of the Barnett Formula.

The Bill will provide for a massive ‘fuel poverty-proofing’ of the existing housing stock in England to bring older homes up to current energy efficiency standards, and will also introduce social tariffs to reduce the energy bills of the most vulnerable groups. Any new money for energy efficiency measures will mean that Wales will get a corresponding share decided on the basis of the Barnett Formula, which is based on the population of Wales relative to England.

However, as the Welsh housing stock would take more money per head to bring up to standard, and with higher levels of fuel poverty in Wales, any extra money arising from the Barnett Formula would fall short of the need in Wales.

The most recent figures available suggest that fuel poverty levels in Wales are almost double that in England, in 2006 11.5% of households in England were fuel poor, while in Wales this figure was 19.5%. Due to the rise in fuel costs in the last year, National Energy Action Cymru has estimated that 340,000 Welsh households are now in fuel poverty, around 1 in 3. Home energy efficiency figures show that 26.7% of homes in England have loft insulation of less than 100mm, compared to a figure of 33.8% in Wales.

On Monday the Welsh Assembly Government launched the consultation on the National Energy Efficiency and Savings Plan which will review the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (HEES) amongst other fuel poverty policies. Since HEES began in 2000 over 200,000 energy efficiency measures have been installed in Wales. However the scheme has been less effective at targeting the fuel poor – when the scheme was reviewed in 2005, it was estimated that only 29% of householders receiving HEES grants were likely to be in fuel poverty.