Press Release
Government measures to tackle fuel poverty inadequate
11 September 2008
The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) welcomes the announcement of more funding for home insulation. It believes that insulation is an important element in dealing with fuel poverty and in reducing energy bills.
However, the Government could do much more to address the problem in the long term. The CIEH agrees that a windfall tax on energy companies is not an appropriate tool for dealing with fuel poverty but argues that the solution is about more than just providing temporary financial assistance.
Helping the vulnerable and improving public health will require the Government to take a much more proactive approach. An important element of this should be to increase funding for private sector housing renewal (there is no point insulating a house when the roof is leaking and the occupants can’t afford to fix it). Environmental health practitioners in local authorities have the tools to act now to reduce fuel poverty but they need more resources to help tackle the problem on a permanent basis.
EHPs are ideally placed to identify and assist those most in need of help. With potentially millions more people being thrown into fuel poverty this winter, the CIEH is calling for a mature debate about longer term solutions to the problem.
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