Call for ‘Marshall Plan’ to bring better housing

ONE in five people struggled to keep warm last winter, and intervention on the scale of the post-war Marshall Plan is needed to ensure the most vulnerable are properly housed, a leading expert has said.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics highlighted the problems facing society’s poorest people, with one in 20 adults saying they had run out of food in the previous fortnight and could not afford to buy more.

The survey also found one in five people were waiting for an NHS hospital appointment, test or treatment, with

14 per cent saying this was a longstanding problem. People aged 16 to 29, those living in deprived areas and people with disabilities were more likely to report problems, the survey found.

Professor Carl Heneghan, an emergency care doctor who treats many vulnerable and elderly patients, said drastic action was needed. “People are cold and hungry, and they can’t get to be seen in the NHS,” he said. “We have so much technology and all this innovation, yet people are walking around feeling like things are worse than ever.

“We need to sort these problems but the Government seems asleep at the wheel.”

Prof Heneghan, director of Oxford University’s Centre for Evidence-based Medicine, added: “We cannot keep having these massive hikes in energy prices. “This hard-hitting data shows people can’t afford to heat their homes. Yet, a

warm home is essential to health, especially for people with chronic and respiratory diseases. The fact so many cannot afford to keep warm is as unconscionable as it is unacceptable in the 21st century.”

He called for a recovery programme akin to the 1948 Marshall Plan when the US provided billions of pounds to rebuild western Europe after the devastation of the Secondworldwar.

Prof Heneghan added: “Most of the UK’S housing stock is not fit for purpose, and many people don’t have efficient insulation or double glazing.

“Our housing stock needs a retrofit but no one wants to pay for it, and those at the lower end of society can’t afford it.”

Lord Nigel Crisp, a crossbench peer and formerchief executive of the NHS, is calling for new legislation to ensure all homes are safe and healthy.

He said: “Health and housing are intimately linked.we need to raise the quality of the housing stock so that it’s fit for purpose.”