Jenny Jones, a Green Party member of the London Assembly, will tomorrow challenge London Mayor Ken Livingstone on the failure to tackle the spiralling levels of fuel poverty in London.
New figures show that the number of fuel poor households in London has more than doubled since 2003, from 108,000 households to 214,200. Jenny Jones will be calling on the Mayor to take urgent action to improve draughty, inefficient homes and to educate Londoners about the help available to them to keep their homes warm.
Jenny Jones commented:
"No one should have to spend the winter in a cold, damp home simply because they can’t afford to put the heating on. I’m concerned that the failure to improve home energy efficiency will lead to poor health, debt and worry for thousands of Londoners this winter."
"In order to permanently eradicate fuel poverty and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, we need a radical improvement to London’s inefficient housing."
ENDS
Notes to Editors
1. Jenny Jones will be questioning Ken Livingston at the London Assembly ‘Mayor’s Question Time’ at 10am on 15 November 2006 at City Hall.
2. Figures published by NEA (the national energy efficiency charity) estimate that fuel poverty rates in London increased from 108,000 households in 2003 to 214,2000 households in 2006. Fuel poverty is defined as the inability to achieve indoor temperatures sufficient to maintain health and comfort for expenditure of less than 10% of disposable income. See www.nea.org.uk for further details.
3. Fuel poverty is linked with ‘excess winter mortality’ – the increase in the death rate during the winter period compared to the rest of the year. In 2005/2006, there were 2,600 excess winter deaths in London.