Press Release

Fuel price increases will hit the most vulnerable, says the CIEH

07 January 2008 

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) has welcomed moves by the Government to meet with the energy regulator OFGEM to discuss the implications of recent double digit rises in energy prices.

Stephen Battersby, CIEH President, said:

“We are very concerned about the impact these energy price increases will have on some of the most vulnerable groups in society including the elderly, people with disabilities and families with young children. People on small and fixed incomes will struggle to keep warm and healthy this winter.

“The links between cold, damp homes and poor health have long been recognised and fuel poverty presents a serious risk to the health and wellbeing of thousands of people.

“According to the English House Condition Survey in 2005, some 780,000 or 25 percent of vulnerable households in the private sector live in homes which fail to provide adequate thermal comfort (600,000 fail in thermal comfort alone). At the same time there were 25,700 excess winter deaths in England and Wales in 2005/6.[1]

“Environmental health practitioners working in local authorities across the UK play an important role in combating the effects of fuel poverty. The more money people have pay for energy, the less they have for other essentials. We urge the Government to do all it can to make sure that those who need help this winter receive it.”