Millions of people across Britain are struggling to afford to heat their homes, including four out of five single pensioners.

The Fuel Poverty Bill being proposed by Liberal Democrat MP David Heath would deliver a massive home insulation programme which would halve the energy needed to heat the average home. And it would end the scandal of those who use pre-pay meters – generally the least well-off – paying higher rates for their gas and electricity.

The Bill has the enthusiastic support of organisations who represent the vulnerable, from Age Concern to DisabilityAlliance to the Child Poverty Action Group. And because it would also cut harmful carbon emissions it also has the strong backing of environmental campaigners like Friends of the Earth.

You can find out more about the Bill by scrolling down to the briefing notes at the bottom of this page, or by going to www.endfuelpoverty.org.uk.

Sadly the Bill failed to pass its second reading on Friday March 20th. The government opposed it, and were able to ‘talk it out’ as the minister was still speaking at the end of the debate. David Heath attempted to stop the Minister from being able to do this by using a 'closure motion' to bring debate to a conclusion. However the closure motion required 100 MPs to support it and only 91 MPs were present to support the Bill. 

Those present to support the Bill (89 who voted for closure plus two tellers) were -
45 Lib Dems (71% of all Lib Dem MPs)
25 Labour (7% of total)
20 Tories (10% of total)
1 Independent
0 SNP or Plaid Cymru

You can check the voting record at http://tinyurl.com/11short

Throughout the debate, and in previous discussions with Ministers, David made it clear that the Bill could be amended at committee and, working with the various party frontbenches, he had hoped to reach a consensus. But the government showed themselves unwilling to do this. The Minister, Joan Ruddock, demonstrating a total failure to recognise the urgency of action in this area, said the Bill was unacceptable to the Government because it would cut across ongoing consultations and other government work on energy saving. The government chief whip, Nick Brown, was one of the two MPs to vote against the closure motion.

What they are saying

Help the Aged
"Millions of older people who have just suffered through one of the coldest winters in years will be devastated and dismayed by this result. The Government has shown a tragic lack of urgency in addressing fuel poverty. It seems unable to recognise the scale of the problem which for some older people can be a life and death issue.”
Press statement from Mervyn Kohler, Special Adviser to Help the Aged, 20 March 2009

Consumer Focus
“We are dismayed that the Government has talked out a Bill to end fuel poverty. The failure of this Bill is a devastating blow for millions of the most vulnerable pensioners, families and disabled people who will be left struggling in fuel poverty. … This is a sad day for those who are facing a daily battle to afford to heat their homes.”
Jonathan Stearn, energy expert for Consumer Focus, 20 March 2009

Age Concern
“This is a huge let-down for the 2.75 million older people living in fuel poverty and many will question why a Government which claims to be concerned about fuel poverty has acted in such a cynical way."
Gordon Lishman, Director General of Age Concern, 20 March 2009

The Times
"Devasting blow" for households in fuel poverty (headline)
“The Fuel Poverty Bill has been thrown out of parliament because not enough MPs could be bothered to vote.”
The Times, 20 March 2009

What now?

The Bill could receive further consideration on the 12th of June, but the reality is there's little chance of it passing without government support. So our focus now is on applying as much pressure as possible to the government to support the Bill.

How you can support the Bill

1) Email your MP (you can do this via www.writetothem.com), of whatever party, or write to them at the House of Commons, in support of the Bill, and asking them to pass your letter on to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, to show the strength of support for the Bill. Ask them if they will make clear to the Secretary of State their own support for the Bill too.

2) Write to your local newspaper about how important the Bill is and encouraging other people to write to your local MP urging them to support the Bill (see www.endfuelpoverty.org.uk for some tips on what to put in your letter). Include local fuel poverty estimates for your area (figures here).

3) Join the Facebook group in support of the campaign - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=66908379024 - and invite your friends to join it too.

4) Sign our petition in support of the Bill -

Warm Homes for All campaign briefing notes

Warm Homes For All is a Liberal Democrat campaign that brings together the environment, the economy, social policy and employment.

David Heath MP’s private member’s Bill, the Fuel Poverty Bill, is a key part of it. But the campaign is broader than that. For example it also incorporates proposals from the Green Road out of Recession, the party’s green fiscal stimulus package launched in December 2008.

Campaign obectives - what do we want?

* A massive energy efficiency programme to ‘fuel poverty proof’ existing homes by bringing them up to the standards demanded of new build
* Subsidised national green loans scheme available to all so cost of improvements can be paid for from savings on fuel Bills
* Energy companies must pass on cuts in the price they pay for fuel to their customers in full
* End the scandal of the poorest paying higher rates for gas and electricity
* Energy and money saving smart meters for every home within five years

David Heath’s Bill would deliver the first and fourth of these.

How would we pay for it?

Scrap ineffective VAT cut to pay for Green New Deal (which also includes transport and housing measures)

Make the energy companies pay, using some of their £9.5bn windfall profits from the European Emissions Trading Scheme

What will be the benefits?

Environment: Improved home energy efficiency will mean fewer carbon emissions

Lower fuel bills: Home insulation and smart meters would save everyone money

Jobs: Home insulation programme will create tens of thousands of jobs in recession-hit construction industry and related professions

Economy: Our Green New Deal would be a much more effective fiscal stimulus than the Government's ineffective temporary VAT cut - and it would leave a great green legacy

Poverty / social policy: Social tariffs would cut Bills for vulnerable households, and ‘fuel poor’ households would get priority under the energy efficiency programme

Briefing: David Heath’s Fuel Poverty Bill

Purpose of the Bill

The Fuel Poverty Bill will bring in two measures designed to put an end to fuel poverty.

These are:
1. A major energy efficiency programme to ‘fuel poverty proof’ existing homes by bringing them up to the current energy efficiency levels enjoyed by modern homes
2. The use of social tariffs to limit vulnerable households’ exposure to high energy bills

Summary

Sadly, year after year the Government have failed to take the necessary action to deliver on their statutory targets to end fuel poverty in vulnerable households by 2010 and in other households by 2016. They have been repeatedly taken to task by their own Fuel Poverty Advisory Group, whose last annual report contained the damning verdict: “The Government’s policies and lack of action have now made it impossible to meet the 2010 target”. In fact, last autumn Help the Aged and Friends of the Earth took the Government to court for failing to comply with their legal commitment. Disappointingly, in a perverse judgment (which is being appealed) the High Court let the Government off the hook by ruling that the targets were merely “aspirations”.

More than 20,000 people die from the cold during the winter and many more become ill. The average fuel bill is now more than double what it was five years ago, and energy prices continue to rise. Urgent measures are needed to help people who are struggling to heat their homes. The energy measures in the Bill will reduce households’ energy use by up to 70 per cent.

Policy Detail

Liberal Democrat MP David Heath was drawn second in the annual ballot for Private Members Bills. In support of the Liberal Democrat “Warm Homes for All” campaign, David decided to put forward the Fuel Poverty Bill. The Bill aims to ‘fuel poverty proof’ homes by improving the homes of those living in fuel poverty up to the energy efficiency standards of modern homes. It will also provide householders with a social tariff to give them the lowest energy prices until their homes are improved. It is sponsored and supported by MPs from all main parties.

The Bill is backed by Consumer Focus, Association for the Conservation of Energy, Age Concern, Help the Aged, Child Poverty Action Group, Disability Alliance, Friends of the Earth, National Right to Fuel Campaign and the Centre for Sustainable Energy, Sustainable Energy Partnership, UNISON, SERA and Counsel and Care.

What is fuel poverty?

A household is in fuel poverty if it needs to spend 10 per cent or more of its income on fuel to maintain adequate warmth and meet other energy needs. This winter, more than five million households in Britain struggle to heat and power their homes. Those most affected are likely to be older people, disabled people, families on low incomes with children, large families, one parent families, people who are unemployed and people who are already in debt. Over 20,000 people die from the cold during the winter and many more become ill. Households try to cope in different ways, but often go into debt, and choose between food or warmth.

Consumer watchdog Consumer Focus have estimated the level of fuel poverty in every parliamentary constituency in England. You can find out the figures for your area here. If you write to your MP or local paper why not include the figures for your area in your letter?

Government’s Failure on Fuel Poverty

In its latest Fuel Poverty Strategy progress report the Government admits that it is not going to hit its 2010 target to eradicate fuel poverty among vulnerable households. The Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000 committed the Government to eradicating fuel poverty for vulnerable groups by 2010 and all fuel poverty by 2016. The Act required the Government to publish a Fuel Poverty Strategy (FPS) which it carried out in November 2001.

Gas prices have gone up by 109% and electricity prices by 70% since 2003. Fuel poverty is higher than when the FPS was published – it has now reached crisis levels.

What can be done?

The answer is simple. We need action now in the form of a radical but realistic energy efficiency programme. This should form the core of a renewed and fully costed Fuel Poverty Strategy.

Putting energy efficiency at the heart of a fuel poverty strategy is not to say policies on fuel prices and incomes are not also important. But a boost to incomes should improve the quality of life of those on the poverty line, not pay for expensive heat that simply leaks out of the walls and windows.

We also need bold interventions in the British energy market. Our current market is unfair, it excludes the poor from the least expensive energy deals, and provides perverse incentives to consume more, rather than less, energy. To help consumers pay for their energy, the Fuel Poverty Bill makes provision for the fuel poor to pay the lowest prices on offer from their energy supplier.

Energy efficiency must be centre stage. In a recent letter from housing minister Margaret Beckett MP to Simon Hughes, Lib Dem Spokesperson for Energy and Climate Change, she said that 1 per cent of UK homes meet a decent energy efficiency standard. Energy efficiency improvements since 1996 have only been allowed to account for 1.4  per cent of the downward pressure on fuel poverty. Energy efficiency programmes have not tackled ‘hard to treat’ properties - 48% of fuel poor households live in solid walled properties (compared to 29% of those not fuel poor) and 34% of fuel poor households live in ‘off-gas’ properties (compared to 12% of those who are not fuel poor). Cutting energy waste and achieving high levels of energy efficiency not only ‘fuel poverty proofs’ homes, it can help tackle climate change by cutting carbon emissions.

The Government has failed to realise that creating energy efficient homes is also an economic investment in that it will help protect jobs in the construction industry and create a new, vibrant low carbon economy. Instead they have chosen to waste 12.5 billion pounds of tax payers’ money on a pointless VAT cut.

Supporting the Fuel Poverty Bill will eradicate fuel poverty through increasing the energy efficiency of domestic premises to high standards. It will require the Secretary of State to consult on and revise the Fuel Poverty Strategy, publish an Annual Report, specify the number of homes to be made ‘fuel poverty proof’ and ensure suppliers introduce a social tariff.

Further Links to Liberal Democrat Policies

Warm Homes – An Opportunity Offered
Green Road Out of Recession 
Zero Carbon Britain