§ Mr. MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of (1) the effect of changes in heating oil costs on Government targets to reduce fuel poverty; [136919]
(2) the role played by heating fuel oil costs in progress made on tackling fuel poverty. [137104]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe latest available figures1 suggest that about 3 per cent. of households in England have oil-fired central heating. The figures also indicate that 2 per cent. (around 80,000 households) of those in fuel poverty in 1996 had oil-fired central heating. In the four years from the second quarter of 1996 to the second quarter of 2000, there has been a 9.25 per cent. rise in real terms in the price of heating oils.
The Government recognise that recent increases in heating oil prices may have adversely affected those households using this fuel, including those in rural or isolated areas. While the numbers affected are relatively small, compared to the total number in fuel poverty, the Government recognise that fluctuations in prices can take people in and out of fuel poverty.
The Government will be consulting on its draft strategy to tackle fuel poverty later this year.
1 English House Condition Survey 1996.