The UK government has launched a 10 year strategy to prevent deaths among old and vulnerable people as a result of fuel poverty. Some studies have suggested that as many as 50 000 people die annually because they cannot afford to heat their homes properly.
About 4.5 million people across the United Kingdom are expected to benefit from the £1.5bn ($2.25bn) a year programme. The main target is to ensure that by 2010 no vulnerable household—older people, families with young children, people with disabilities, and people with long term illness—need to risk ill health, or worse, because of a cold home.
In England five areas will be designated "warm zones" as pilot schemes for partnership action, involving local councils, health authorities, energy companies, energy efficiency advice centres, businesses, and community and voluntary organisations. These are Newham (north east London), Hull, Sandwell, Northumberland, and Stockton. The schemes will aim to identify those without adequate heating and offer to install energy efficient heating and insulation systems that provide the best value for money.
The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland will devise their own schemes to help meet the UK target.
Launching the strategy last month, England's environment minister, Michael Meacher, said: "Today we are declaring war on fuel poverty. It is a scandal, 100 years since Victorian times, that millions of United Kingdom residents still risk illness from living in cold, expensive to heat homes."
He added: "The targets are challenging, but we owe it to the three million households concerned that by the end of the decade no one has to choose between heating and eating."
The government's strategy was developed by the Inter-Ministerial Group on Fuel Poverty, established in November 1999 to coordinate policies and actions across government departments and the devolved administrations.
"Fuel poverty" is defined as having to spend more than 10% of disposable income on keeping the home heated. Under the new scheme, householders will be means tested to assess whether they qualify for free home improvements or are required to contribute to the cost.
The Liberal Democrat environment spokesman, Don Foster, accused the government of "fiddling the figures" by underplaying the true extent of fuel poverty in the United Kingdom by one million people.
Campaigning organisations for older people welcomed the strategy but urged the government to take additional steps. A spokeswoman for Age Concern said: "Part of the solution must be to increase the basic state pension to a more adequate level so that older people can afford to heat their homes."
Help the Aged, which has been working with British Gas to help combat fuel poverty, pointed out that the proliferation of different energy efficiency schemes across the country had caused confusion and unnecessary duplication of services. It urged the government to prioritise the heating needs of older people being discharged from hospital to their homes.
Mervyn Kohler, head of public affairs for Help the Aged, called for better coordination of measures: "Local government, fuel providers, and community organisations must work together to identify the resources available and to assist older and vulnerable householders to improve their homes."
The UK Fuel Poverty Strategy is available from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, PO Box 236, Wetherby LS23 7NB (tel 0870 1226236; fax 0870 1226237) or on its website at http://www.environment.detr.gov.uk/consult/fuelpov/index.htmwww.environment.detr.gov.uk/consult/fuelpov/index.htm