Update: 23rd July 2010,the Fuel Poverty Coalition has issued the following statement in response to the publication of the Welsh Assembly Government’s new fuel poverty strategy.
Nuria Zolle, chair of the Wales Fuel Poverty Charter Coalition said: “The coalition welcomes the publication of the Fuel Poverty Strategy – this is an important document which has been a long time in gestation, and shows that the Welsh Assembly Government has listened to some of the arguments we have been putting forward”.
Update: 23rd July 2010, Jane Davidson AM, Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing launched the new Fuel Poverty Strategy 2010to eradicate Fuel Poverty by 2018. The strategy will target the most inefficient properties and most vulnerable households in Wales.
Update: Feburary – March 2010, the Fuel Poverty Coalition and the Welsh Party Conferences.
Minister wants inclusive Winter Fuel Payments
Minister for the Environment, Jane Davidson AM has said that the winter fuel payment should include other vulnerable people in addition to the elderly.She said “I think there is a case for a wider group to receive the winter fuel payment”, echoing one of the key demands of the Welsh Fuel Poverty Charter to extend the payment. She was speaking at one of a series of fringe meetings organised by the fuel poverty coalition during the Welsh party conference season.
There was widespread agreement that simplification of the benefits system was needed to help people access their entitlements. Speaking at the Conservative party fringe meeting, Fran Taggart, Director of Citizens Advice Wales said that the current benefits system needed to be changed to help “those who are most in need”. The complexity of the current system has left the most vulnerablefinding it hard to claim their entitlements through difficult and length forms. Dr Dai Lloyd AM, at the Plaid Cymru Spring Conference in Cardiff, called for pensions credit to be paid automatically as only half of those eligible receive them.
Jane Davidson criticised energy firms’ actions towards their customers during the recession. Falling wholesale energy prices had not been similarly reflected in retail energy suppliers pricing, which remained high. She said that “we are not getting enough money back from companies and their profits have virtually doubled in recent months”. For example, British Gas increased its residential profits by 58% earlier this year, whilst reducing household bills by only 7% at the end of winter. Increasing energy prices has led to more people seeking advice concerning fuel debt, with CAB Wales reporting enquiries have risen to 32% by December 2009, second only to issues concerning bailiffs. One of the ways householders manage their energy bills is through pre-payment meters, and Nuria Zolle for NEA Cymru said “their use in Wales is higher than elsewhere” and “it is a good way to budget. What is more, risk-averse poor households don’t want to risk switching”.
There was widespread criticism of energy suppliers by Assembly Members at the fringe meetings, Dr Dai Lloyd said “the sheer complexity of the system is one the major reasons why people are put off from switching” even though “they could save substantial amounts of money”. Jane Davidson AM saw little benefit in sticking with an original supplier for the area saying that “I doubt it is a good decision to be a loyal consumer”. Citizens Advice called on Ofgem to be more effective in managing the market to ensure tariffs offered by the energy suppliers were transparent and offered customers a fair deal, especially those who only use cash and are unable to access either a bank account or the internet.
Mark Isherwood AM, at the Conservative Party conference in Llandudno, said that the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme “only ticks one of the many boxes”. He called for more co-ordination between government departments and greater integration with local government to drive forward a duty to help tackle fuel poverty. He was concerned that the review of proposed strategy would duplicate the work conducted by the voluntary and private sector which could consequently be lost within the proposed central advice and support hub. Moreover, he was concerned that the review of HEES could reduce the number of people helped received by 80%.
Citizens Advice offered a pessimistic, but widely held view, that “we don’t think…that the [fuel poverty] target will be hit” and that “the situation from our perspective is getting worse” as fuel prices were increasing in the short and long term. With the establishment of the Arbed energy efficiency programme, Jane Davidson AM said that assistance would be more focused on strategic regeneration areas in Wales, through central funding from the Welsh Assembly Government. The funding would be matched with the energy firm funding who have begun to target some their investments to focus on the fuel poverty agenda, as Nuria Zolle from NEA Cymru, stated “the energy company’s energy efficiency schemes could be better targeted to assist low income consumers in private homes”.
There is clear political support to tackle Fuel poverty in Wales and the messages from the Fuel Poverty coalition have been listened too. With slipping targets and high energy prices, the governments much anticipated publication of its revised fuel poverty strategy by July, will have an important influence on future of the agenda in Wales.
Update: 13th January 2010, in an article for Waleshome.org, Gareth Price, a member of the Coaltion asks whether in these difficult times, we can afford to eradicate fuel poverty.
The period 2008-2009, witnessed a 74% increase in excess winter deaths in Wales from 1,440 in the previous year to 2500 people and the highest since 1999/2000. This increase in winter death directly corresponds with a decrease in winter temperatures in 2008-2009. Worryingly, the data shows that 80% of all winters deaths are for people aged 75 and above, with the highest rates of deaths relate to people aged 85 and over. The data shows that during death rates for people aged 85 and over increased to 152 per 1,000 deaths in Wales compared to 1.2 per 1000 deaths for people aged between 0-64. In total Winters deaths in 2008/2009, were provisionally 26% higher than the average non-winter deaths.
Update: The Welsh Assembly Government has opened up its draft Fuel Poverty Strategy to Public Consultation until 4th January 2010. The Fuel Poverty Coalition has written a detailed consultation response to the 9 key issues to emerge from the draft report. We hope that you will consider putting in your own response, endorsing our comments or include issues you do not feel are contained within the draft strategy. All responses should be sent to the Welsh Assembly Government at: neespteam@wales.gsi.gov.uk.
Update: 10th December 2009, a Ministerial response from David Kidney MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Department of Energy and Climate Change, on the Fuel Poverty Charter in Wales.
Update: 9th December 2009, Click here for a Gallery of AM’s pledging their support to the Fuel Poverty Charter in Wales at the Welsh Assembly Government in Cardiff.
Update: 4th December, Ofgem response to the Fuel Poverty Charter.
Update: 26th November 2009, Jenny Willott MP submits an Early Day Motion (EDM 260) in Parliament concerning Fuel Poverty in Wales.
Update: 10th November 2009, a response to the Welsh Fuel Poverty Charter is issued by Jane Davidson AM, Welsh Assembly Government Minster for the Environment, Sustainability and Housing for the Welsh Assembly Government. The Minster welcomes the aims of the charter and sets out the measures of a newly published draft Fuel Poverty Strategy by the Welsh Assembly Government.
Update: 15th July 2009, Jane Davidson AM, the Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing issued a statement confirming that she would go back out to consultation on a revised fuel poverty strategy before publishing a final version. We are expecting the launch of the draft strategy for consultation in the autumn. The coalition partners welcome this approach, which we feel provides an opportunity to see how the Assembly Government aims to tackle fuel poverty in Wales in a more coherent separate document and hope that the concerns highlighted by individual organisations have been addressed in this revised document. We hope the development of a fuel poverty charter will help provide a focus around some of the key areas that should be a priority for a new fuel poverty strategy.
Update: March 2009, The Welsh Assembly Government launched their draft National Energy Efficiency and Savings plan, incorporating proposals to update the Assembly Government’s work on fuel poverty. The aim was that these proposals would feed into a new fuel poverty strategy. NEA Cymru, Consumer Focus Wales and a number of other key stakeholders were concerned that in their current form the proposals in the National Energy Efficiency and Savings plan around fuel poverty were not adequate. In particular we wanted to see more detail and were concerned that proposed approach to fuel poverty was not co-ordinated or sufficiently clear.
Fuel Poverty news and updates
Update: 23rd July 2010, the Fuel Poverty Coalition has issued the following statement in response to the publication of the Welsh Assembly Government’s new fuel poverty strategy.
Nuria Zolle, chair of the Wales Fuel Poverty Charter Coalition said: “The coalition welcomes the publication of the Fuel Poverty Strategy – this is an important document which has been a long time in gestation, and shows that the Welsh Assembly Government has listened to some of the arguments we have been putting forward”.
Please click to read statement in full…
Update: 23rd July 2010, Jane Davidson AM, Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing launched the new Fuel Poverty Strategy 2010 to eradicate Fuel Poverty by 2018. The strategy will target the most inefficient properties and most vulnerable households in Wales.
Please click to read full statement by the minister…
Update: Feburary – March 2010, the Fuel Poverty Coalition and the Welsh Party Conferences.
Minister wants inclusive Winter Fuel Payments
Minister for the Environment, Jane Davidson AM has said that the winter fuel payment should include other vulnerable people in addition to the elderly.She said “I think there is a case for a wider group to receive the winter fuel payment”, echoing one of the key demands of the Welsh Fuel Poverty Charter to extend the payment. She was speaking at one of a series of fringe meetings organised by the fuel poverty coalition during the Welsh party conference season.
There was widespread agreement that simplification of the benefits system was needed to help people access their entitlements. Speaking at the Conservative party fringe meeting, Fran Taggart, Director of Citizens Advice Wales said that the current benefits system needed to be changed to help “those who are most in need”. The complexity of the current system has left the most vulnerable finding it hard to claim their entitlements through difficult and length forms. Dr Dai Lloyd AM, at the Plaid Cymru Spring Conference in Cardiff, called for pensions credit to be paid automatically as only half of those eligible receive them.
Jane Davidson criticised energy firms’ actions towards their customers during the recession. Falling wholesale energy prices had not been similarly reflected in retail energy suppliers pricing, which remained high. She said that “we are not getting enough money back from companies and their profits have virtually doubled in recent months”. For example, British Gas increased its residential profits by 58% earlier this year, whilst reducing household bills by only 7% at the end of winter. Increasing energy prices has led to more people seeking advice concerning fuel debt, with CAB Wales reporting enquiries have risen to 32% by December 2009, second only to issues concerning bailiffs. One of the ways householders manage their energy bills is through pre-payment meters, and Nuria Zolle for NEA Cymru said “their use in Wales is higher than elsewhere” and “it is a good way to budget. What is more, risk-averse poor households don’t want to risk switching”.
There was widespread criticism of energy suppliers by Assembly Members at the fringe meetings, Dr Dai Lloyd said “the sheer complexity of the system is one the major reasons why people are put off from switching” even though “they could save substantial amounts of money”. Jane Davidson AM saw little benefit in sticking with an original supplier for the area saying that “I doubt it is a good decision to be a loyal consumer”. Citizens Advice called on Ofgem to be more effective in managing the market to ensure tariffs offered by the energy suppliers were transparent and offered customers a fair deal, especially those who only use cash and are unable to access either a bank account or the internet.
Mark Isherwood AM, at the Conservative Party conference in Llandudno, said that the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme “only ticks one of the many boxes”. He called for more co-ordination between government departments and greater integration with local government to drive forward a duty to help tackle fuel poverty. He was concerned that the review of proposed strategy would duplicate the work conducted by the voluntary and private sector which could consequently be lost within the proposed central advice and support hub. Moreover, he was concerned that the review of HEES could reduce the number of people helped received by 80%.
Citizens Advice offered a pessimistic, but widely held view, that “we don’t think…that the [fuel poverty] target will be hit” and that “the situation from our perspective is getting worse” as fuel prices were increasing in the short and long term. With the establishment of the Arbed energy efficiency programme, Jane Davidson AM said that assistance would be more focused on strategic regeneration areas in Wales, through central funding from the Welsh Assembly Government. The funding would be matched with the energy firm funding who have begun to target some their investments to focus on the fuel poverty agenda, as Nuria Zolle from NEA Cymru, stated “the energy company’s energy efficiency schemes could be better targeted to assist low income consumers in private homes”.
There is clear political support to tackle Fuel poverty in Wales and the messages from the Fuel Poverty coalition have been listened too. With slipping targets and high energy prices, the governments much anticipated publication of its revised fuel poverty strategy by July, will have an important influence on future of the agenda in Wales.
Update: 13th January 2010, today in the Senedd, the Assembly debated issues concerning Fuel Poverty and Energy Conservation, with Mark Isherwood AM (Con) tabling a debate concerning the Fuel Poverty Charter in Wales. The member for North Wales, in conjunction with the Fuel Poverty coalition and Assembly Members, called on ‘the National Assembly for Wales supports the fuel poverty charter and calls on the Welsh Assembly Government to incorporate the policy aims of the charter in its forthcoming fuel poverty strategy’.
Update: 13th January 2010, in an article for Waleshome.org, Gareth Price, a member of the Coaltion asks whether in these difficult times, we can afford to eradicate fuel poverty.
Update: 12th January 2010, The Welsh Assembly Government has published ONS research data concerning excess winter deaths in Wales. The statistics include data for England and Wales for the winter period 2008/2009, based upon statistics released by the on 24th November 2009.
The period 2008-2009, witnessed a 74% increase in excess winter deaths in Wales from 1,440 in the previous year to 2500 people and the highest since 1999/2000. This increase in winter death directly corresponds with a decrease in winter temperatures in 2008-2009. Worryingly, the data shows that 80% of all winters deaths are for people aged 75 and above, with the highest rates of deaths relate to people aged 85 and over. The data shows that during death rates for people aged 85 and over increased to 152 per 1,000 deaths in Wales compared to 1.2 per 1000 deaths for people aged between 0-64. In total Winters deaths in 2008/2009, were provisionally 26% higher than the average non-winter deaths.
Update: 4th January 2010, response to the Fuel Poverty Chartyer by the WLGA.
Update: The Welsh Assembly Government has opened up its draft Fuel Poverty Strategy to Public Consultation until 4th January 2010. The Fuel Poverty Coalition has written a detailed consultation response to the 9 key issues to emerge from the draft report. We hope that you will consider putting in your own response, endorsing our comments or include issues you do not feel are contained within the draft strategy. All responses should be sent to the Welsh Assembly Government at: neespteam@wales.gsi.gov.uk.
Update: 10th December 2009, a Ministerial response from David Kidney MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Department of Energy and Climate Change, on the Fuel Poverty Charter in Wales.
Update: 9th December 2009, Click here for a Gallery of AM’s pledging their support to the Fuel Poverty Charter in Wales at the Welsh Assembly Government in Cardiff.
Update: 4th December, Ofgem response to the Fuel Poverty Charter.
Update: 26th November 2009, Jenny Willott MP submits an Early Day Motion (EDM 260) in Parliament concerning Fuel Poverty in Wales.
Update: 10th November 2009, a response to the Welsh Fuel Poverty Charter is issued by Jane Davidson AM, Welsh Assembly Government Minster for the Environment, Sustainability and Housing for the Welsh Assembly Government. The Minster welcomes the aims of the charter and sets out the measures of a newly published draft Fuel Poverty Strategy by the Welsh Assembly Government.
Update: 20th October 2009, The Fuel Poverty Charter: A turning point in the fight against fuel poverty in Wales is published by NEA Cymru, Consumer Focus Wales and a number of other key stakeholders.
Update: 15th July 2009, Jane Davidson AM, the Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing issued a statement confirming that she would go back out to consultation on a revised fuel poverty strategy before publishing a final version. We are expecting the launch of the draft strategy for consultation in the autumn. The coalition partners welcome this approach, which we feel provides an opportunity to see how the Assembly Government aims to tackle fuel poverty in Wales in a more coherent separate document and hope that the concerns highlighted by individual organisations have been addressed in this revised document. We hope the development of a fuel poverty charter will help provide a focus around some of the key areas that should be a priority for a new fuel poverty strategy.
Update: March 2009, The Welsh Assembly Government launched their draft National Energy Efficiency and Savings plan, incorporating proposals to update the Assembly Government’s work on fuel poverty. The aim was that these proposals would feed into a new fuel poverty strategy. NEA Cymru, Consumer Focus Wales and a number of other key stakeholders were concerned that in their current form the proposals in the National Energy Efficiency and Savings plan around fuel poverty were not adequate. In particular we wanted to see more detail and were concerned that proposed approach to fuel poverty was not co-ordinated or sufficiently clear.