Fuel Poverty
Fuel Poverty is a major concern for all of us today, and local and central government face major challenges in attempting to achieve affordable warmth for citizens. The definition of fuel poverty is where, in order to maintain a satisfactory heating regime, a household would be required to spend more than 10% of its income on all domestic fuel use.
One of the consequences of fuel poverty is the effect that cold conditions have on health. The lower the room temperature, and the more inactive the occupant of the dwelling, the more serious will be the effect of the cold, particularly on older people who are fairly sedentary. A room temperature somewhere between 18°c and 21°c is generally desirable. At room temperatures below 16°c, there is a marked decrease in the body’s ability to stave off respiratory illnesses, and at temperatures below 12°c the there may be a rise in blood pressure which in turn increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
The other effects of the cold on the body include worsening arthritis, and increased risk of accidents. In addition, people are more socially isolated when they live in cold damp homes and children have more difficulty with schoolwork when there is inadequate heating.
There are around 28,000 excess winter deaths each year in Great Britain, (these are the number of deaths in the winter quarter compared to deaths in the other quarters of the year). These occur largely as a result of cold related illnesses. Improving housing conditions by tackling fuel poverty will be beneficial not only to residents’ mental and physical health it could also save the NHS considerable resources through preventing illness before it happens.
Project Counter Attack
Project Counter Attack came to an end in March 2009 after three years of success tackling fuel poverty in Blackpool but work continues as a mainstream service within the Home Owners Advice Team/Private Sector Housing section of the Council. The Project Report released in September 2009 outlines the findings of the project and aims to explain why vulnerable residents may not take up the funding that is available to them to help keep their homes warm and themselves well. It also details how the team received referrals from other agencies that enabled them to access those most in need of assistance to improve their living conditions. Please click here for The Project Report.
The Project concentrated on small numbers of potential referrers, embedding services with one group then using success stories to achieve buy in from the next tranche of referral agent.
The Report also emphasises the advantages of GP surgeries for providing information for self referrals. Many clients stated they preferred this ‘no pressure’ approach from trusted sources to generalised approaches via commercial mail shot, cold calling etc.
“Self referral from materials sponsored by a trusted source empowers clients to make initial, tentative enquiries which are not perceived to be ‘pressurised selling’.” |