Stop press – Paying the Price of being Poor

A household is classified as ‘fuel poor’ when more than 10% of their income is spent on fuel. There are moves afoot in England to introduce new powers for the regulator to take action and make social tariffs mandatory not optional and are planning new, measures on energy efficiency targeted at the poorest.
CAB reports that in England and Wales they saw a 46% increase in the umber of people asking for advice on fuel debt compared to the same period last year.
A recent report addressing the price of being poor which the Welsh Tenants Federation supported was published by the Bevan Foundation. ‘Paying the Price of Being Poor’ also highlights the problem of the fuel poor with Wales the lowest proportion of people switching suppliers and hence not able to benefit from competition within the energy sector. On fuel poverty the report recommends that;

More information should be made available about pricing and switching energy providers
Greater regulation of energy pricing (especially social tariffs) and sales activity
New payment methods including post office network and post office account should be developed
Winter fuel payments should be developed to address child poverty and tackle underlying problems of fuel poverty
Micro generation initiatives need to be carefully managed to ensure hey can be taken up by low income households
And the Welsh Assembly Government should have a stronger voice dealing with UK government bodies

A copy of the report can be obtained form the Bevan Foundation, Innovation centre, Victoria Business Park, Festival Drive, Ebbw Vale, NP23 8XA. www.bevanfoundation.org