Fuel poverty strategy ‘needs overhaul’
The government’s fuel poverty strategy is outmoded and a more radical approach is needed, according to a leading think-tank.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) calls for an independent fuel poverty commission to be set up, and for fuel poverty initiatives to focus more heavily on energy efficiency.
In The long cold winter: beating fuel poverty it argues that while the current fuel poverty strategy has had some successes, the fuel context has now changed significantly.
When the current strategy was devised energy prices were falling; energy prices are now expected to rise, however, and technological changes offer new options for fuel poverty.
IPPR calls for an independent, wide-ranging review of the UK’s fuel poverty strategy which considers a redefinition of the term ‘fuel poverty’ and looks at whether plans to eradicate fuel poverty are appropriate.
It wants to see energy efficiency measures installed free of charge to fuel-poor households and for the deployment of technologies such as smart meters and micro-generation schemes.
Co-director of the IPPR Carey Oppenheim said: ‘Extremely cold weather conditions seen in the UK over the past months have highlighted the pressing need for a radical overhaul of fuel poverty measures and policy. Millions of households across the UK still struggle to afford adequate warmth and the fuel poverty strategy devised in 2001 is increasingly out of step with reality in 2010.’
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