§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what definition her Department uses of fuel poverty; what the level is of household fuel poverty in Great Britain; what timetable has been set for implementing a strategy to eradicate fuel poverty; and if she will make a statement. [3986]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 13 July 2001]: The draft UK Fuel Poverty Strategy set out our proposal to display the number of fuel poor households in England on the basis of both main definitions:
- (a) A household is in fuel poverty if, in order to maintain a satisfactory heating regime, it would be required to spend more than 10 per cent. of its income (including Housing Benefit or Income Support for Mortgage Interest) on all household fuel use.
- (b) A household is in fuel poverty if, in order to maintain a satisfactory heating regime, it would be required to spend more than 10 per cent. of its income (excluding Housing Benefit and ISMI) on all household fuel use.
On the basis of the definitions at (a) and (b), we estimate the number of fuel poor households in Great Britain in 1999 to be either 4.3 million or 5.3 million respectively.
The Government's overall goal is to seek an end to the problem of fuel poverty, with the first objective being to take all those most vulnerable to cold-related ill-health (older people, families with young children, the disabled and those with long-term illness) out of fuel poverty by 2010. The individual programmes set out in the draft strategy are already under way, with the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (HEES) in England already substantially improved and offering grants of up to £2,000 compared to the £315 available under the previous scheme that had run since 1991. Since its launch in June 2000, HEES has already assisted over 100,000 vulnerable households and has a target of reaching 800,000 homes by 2004.
We are currently considering the responses to the consultation on the proposed strategy. Our intention is to publish the final strategy in the autumn.