§ Mr. Alan SimpsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what the age and status are of children in a household for that household to be deemed vulnerable under the UK Fuel Poverty Strategy; and how many such households with children there are in(a) private sector housing and (b) public sector housing in England; [26425]
(2) what age a person must be for their household to be classified as vulnerable under the fuel poverty definition; and how many such households there are in (a) private sector housing and (b) public sector housing in England. [26424]
§ Mr. MeacherHouseholders aged 60 years or more, families with children under 16 and those that are disabled or suffering from a long-term illness are all regarded as being particularly vulnerable to cold-related ill-health.
479WThe number of fuel poor households in England in 1998 is set out in Table 4.1 of the UK Fuel Poverty Strategy. This shows that out of the 2.7 million vulnerable households in fuel poverty in England in 1998, 2 million were in private sector housing and 0.7 million in social housing.
Chart 4.2 of the strategy shows that in 1998, some 14 per cent. or half a million fuel poor households had a child under 16. It is not possible to estimate the breakdown of this between different housing tenures.