‘Everyone deserves to live in a warm home...’
Campaigners call for a windfall tax on fossil fuel companies after new research showed that Stoke-on-trent is the second worst affected area in the whole of England for the number of families suffering fuel poverty
MORE people in Stoke-ontrent are struggling to heat their homes than almost anywhere else in England.
New data has emerged revealing that only Newham in London has more families living in fuel poverty than the city.
According to the figures from the Friends of the Earth, 69 per cent of neighbourhoods in Stoke-on-trent have the highest levels of fuel poor households.
The city is just ahead of the London suburb of Barking and Dagenham on 68 per cent, and Wolverhampton with 65 per cent.
Those defined as fuel poor typically experience a combination of low income and poorly insulated homes.
The new findings also reveal that people of colour are twice as likely to be living in fuel poverty as white people, while areas identified by the government as having a high number of residents with disabilities or other health needs are more likely to be rated in the worst category for fuel poverty.
Previous research by the government has shown that there are more than three million people living in fuel poverty across England.
Government research has also shown that young people are more likely to live in fuel poverty than older people.
Twenty-five per cent of households in the youngest age bracket (16 to 24) are deemed to be fuel poor, compared to 11 per cent for 60 to 74-year-olds.
It is also more likely to affect people who rent their homes over those who own them, with 27 per cent of privately renting households considered fuel poor, compared to 18 per cent for social housing and eight per cent for people who own their homes.
And cold homes are known to have an adverse impact on health conditions such as cardio-vascular and respiratory diseases.
Now Friends of the Earth is calling on the government to bring in a range of policies to end fuel poverty by introducing a windfall tax on fossil fuel companies which are currently profiting from the high price of oil and gas. The organisation says this ‘polluter pay’ measure would provide funding so the government can increase spending on insulation programmes and offer financial support to help people in fuel poverty through this winter.
Chris Crean, left, from West Midlands Friends of the Earth, said: “Everyone deserves to live in a warm home, no matter where they live, how old they are or what kind of house they live in.
“Fuel poverty is the product of poorly insulated homes and soaring energy costs, and is as much a health issue as it is a climate one.
“Rapid progress is needed to lift people out of fuel poverty right now.
“This can be achieved by ensuring every home is well insulated, in the meantime offering greater financial support to those who need it so that no one goes cold this winter.”
Ruth London, from Fuel Poverty Action, said: “Millions of UK residents face the choice of whether to heat their homes or put food on the table.
“In the UK, even before covid, around 10,000 people died each year because they could not afford to keep warm.
“It is past time for a windfall tax on the soaring profits of the world’s biggest oil corporations.
“This money must be used to help relieve the energy crisis faced by people who are struggling to survive.”