Britain’s biggest pensioner organisation, the National Pensioners Convention has strongly criticised the government after official fuel poverty statistics for England showed that the fuel poverty crisis is getting worse.
Despite a small reduction in final fuel poverty figures between 2011 and 2012 the statistics show that fuel poverty is projected by DECC to have worsened in the last two years. Fuel poverty in England increased from 2.28 million households in 2012 to 2.33 million in 2014.
And the severity of fuel poverty has also got worse – with the average gap between those who can and can’t afford their energy bills increasing from £443 to £480. The NPC believes that pensioners make up around half of all households deemed to be in fuel poverty.
Dot Gibson, NPC general secretary said: “Rising fuel bills and the government’s inability to get a grip on the problem has resulted in more people suffering from fuel poverty now than two years ago. Last winter, over 31,000 older people died from the cold – and yet no-one in Westminster seems to get as angry as they should about it.
In fact, they just seem to be dithering while pensioners shiver. Since coming to power they have cut back on home energy efficiency programmes and reduced the winter fuel allowance. It’s all very well producing yet another strategy document – but we need to see some action – and fast.”
