What are the main issues?
- The cost of energy in the UK is 30% higher than in the rest of Europe
- Rising energy prices, high inflation and low wages and benefit levels have left 4.72 million households (8 million people) in the uk in fuel poverty
- Fuel poverty in England doubled between 2011 and 2022
- This has a huge impact of the well-being and health of people from all ages
- It has the greatest impact on children, older people and people of all ages who live with chronic health conditions
- Ofgem recently estimated that the collective gas and electricity debt owed by UK consumers was about £2.3bn
- Those who are in debt are at risk of being forced to have a prepayment meter
- Half of all homes in the uk aren’t energy efficient
Why is Fuel Poverty so damaging?
- Cold homes raise blood pressure, restrict the airways, suppress the immune system and can cause damp and mould which can lead to infections and respiratory problems
- Arthritis, grip strength and sickle-cell anaemia are all made worse by living in a cold home. These can lead to falls which can be fatal
- Children’s lung function and brain development can be negatively affected by living in a cold home
- 28% of young children are at risk of mental health symptoms due to living in a cold home, compared with 4% of those who live in a warm home
- Being unable to heat a home doubles the risk of adults developing new mental health conditions
- The cost of energy is leading to increased malnutrition
- Living in a cold home increases social isolation and loneliness
- A cold home makes it very difficult for children and young people to concentrate on their homework, which impacts GCSE results
What are the problems with forced prepayment meters?
- Anyone in debt to their energy company is at risk of being forced to have a prepayment meter
- There are meant to be safeguards so that vulnerable people are protected from running out of energy but these don’t always work
- They are impossible for housebound people who don’t have access to the internet to manage
- Companies force their way into people’s homes to install the metres. It is very traumatic.
- Your energy debt and the standing charge is taken out of your top up before your energy use
- It’s very easy to run out of credit and be left without gas and electricity
What can you do to help?
Join the People’s Assembly Against Austerity and sign up to our local mailing list. You will hear from us once or twice a month. We meet on zoom once a month on the second Tuesday of every month. We’ve been campaigning against fuel poverty for years, working closely with other local campaign groups. Find out more about us on our website.
Want to learn more?
End Fuel Poverty
The Cambridge People’s Assembly Against Austerity believes that no-one should suffer, become sick or die from a cold home in 2024.
Source for statistics above:
‘Left out in the cold: the hidden health costs of Britain’s cold homes’ a report commissioned by Friends of the Earth and Written by Professor Sir Michael Marmot’s Institute of Health Equity . The report can be downloaded here https://friendsoftheearth.uk/climate/how-are-uks-cold-homes-impacting-our-health
