Cable Urges Action on Fuel Poverty

2.17.46pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 21st Nov 2005

With the first cold snap of the winter this weekend, and with meteorologists predicting the coldest winter for 40 years, Vincent Cable MP has warned of the dangers facing the 6.36% of the local population who live in fuel poverty. Statistics provided by the Warm Homes Campaign suggest that in the Twickenham constituency there were, on average, 62 annual "excess deaths" caused by winter cold in the period 1998-2003.

Vincent Cable said: "The Warm Homes Campaign is important both to address the issue of fuel poverty but to make Britain more energy efficient, contributing to a reduction in global warming. It is quite unacceptable that older people and others on low incomes should freeze through the winter because they cannot afford to heat their homes. There is help available through programmes like Warm Front to cover the costs of home insulation."