HC Deb 23 November 2001 vol 375 cc519-20W
Mr. Andrew Turner

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many households in the Isle of Wight spent over 10 per cent. of their household income on fuel and were living in fuel poverty in(a) 1997, (b) 1998, (c) 1999, (d) 2000 and (e) 2001. [16123]

Mr. Meacher

[holding answer 19 November 2001]: The estimates of the number of fuel poor in England are based on data from the English house condition survey. Due to the nature of the survey, it is not possible to estimate the number of fuel poor within individual areas such as the Isle of Wight. The latest available information suggests that for the whole south-east Government office region, there were an estimated 270,000 households in fuel poverty in 1998.

ug/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre) Index Sulphur dioxide 15 minutes Nitrogen dioxide 1 hour Ozone Running 8 hours Particles (PM10) Running 24 hours Carbon monoxide Running 8 hours
Very High 10 1400 1400 1,2180 1100 120
High 7–9 200–399 300–399 90–179 75–99 15–19.9
Moderate 4–6 199–100 150–299 50–89 50–74 10–14.9
Low 1–3 3100 3150 350 350 310
1 Greater than
2 One hour concentration
3 Less than

The national automatic monitoring network currently includes 120 sites. Data are produced continuously on an hourly basis. Ratified data is available up to 30 June 2001. After this date care must be taken in interpretation of the pollution levels recorded since high measurements may be the result of instrument error that is still to be identified. Levels recorded at each monitoring site are defined according to the pollutant that is in the highest band during the day.

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