City Council supports Liberal Democrat move to end fuel poverty in the city

4.16.03pm GMT Thu 1st Feb 2007

Cllr Judith Lubbock

At their meeting on 30th January, Norwich City Council members unanimously supported a motion proposed by Liberal Democrat Cllr. Judith Lubbock to commit resources and finance towards an Affordable Warmth Strategy aimed at eliminating fuel poverty in the city.

Fuel poverty is defined as where a household needs to spend 10% or more of their disposable income on heating and other energy costs, and nearly 9,000 households in Norwich suffer from it.

"An average of 78 people a year die from cold-related deaths in Norwich, compared to an average of four people a year dying from road traffic accidents in the Norwich area," said Cllr Lubbock.

"49% of households claiming benefit are in fuel poverty. On average 12% of the population of England are suffering fuel poverty, but that figure increases to 15.7% in Norwich. The most fuel-poor ward is Mancroft. For every 1% rise in fuel prices, there will be an extra 40,000 homes in fuel poverty.

"It is crucial we tackle this issue now before we see a further increase in fuel," said Cllr Lubbock.

"There are few opportunities in a councillor's life when we can say that we have saved a life. By endorsing the development of an affordable warmth strategy for Norwich we all have that chance," she said.

"This strategy - which is still evolving - aims to reduce and eliminate fuel poverty; the national target is do so by 2010. In Norwich it is hoped to launch and implement it this year.

"A case study may illustrate more clearly what fuel poverty is," said Cllr Lubbock. "A recently widowed pensioner living on state pension in her own property, fears rising fuel costs and so doesn't heat the house but retires to living in one room, she is too cold to strip off and wash properly and so becomes in danger of self neglect.

"She is visited by someone from Age Concern who immediately ensures she is getting the benefits she is entitled to - higher state pension, pension credits and attendance allowance which increases her income to £200.00 pw. Which means she can now afford to heat her home, giving her a better quality of life with less chance of illness.

"But that is not the end of the story - what she also needs is advice on how her home could become more energy efficient so that she can make savings on her fuel bills and ensure that she cuts down on CO2 emissions at the same time.

"This case illustrates that affordable warmth impacts on so many areas of one's wellbeing," said Cllr Lubbock.

"We as a Council need to show leadership, especially following on from our bid for unitary status. By taking a pivotal role in implementing the emerging strategy, we will be demonstrating how well Norwich can deliver wellbeing to its communities."