HC Deb 02 April 2003 vol 402 c706W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent estimate she has made of the number of(a) people and (b) households in the Buckingham constituency that are in fuel poverty. [106377]

Mr. Wilson

The Government published "The UK Fuel Poverty Strategy 1st Annual Progress Report" on 4 March 2003. This showed that the number of households in fuel poverty in the UK is estimated to have fallen from about 5.5 million in 1996 to about 3 million in 2001.

The most recently available information on fuel poverty in the South East is set out. Figures are not available centrally for individual constituencies.

Number and percentage of households in fuel poverty1,2
2001 Number of households (thousands) Percentage
South East 232 6.9
England 1,761 8.6
1 For England and its regions the main source of information is the five yearly English House Condition Survey (EHCS). The latest figures on fuel poverty from this survey relate to 2001.
2 Fuel poverty is defined as when a household needs to spend more than 10 per cent. of its income (including Housing Benefit and Income Support for Mortage Interest) on fuel in order to maintain a satisfactory heating regime.