16,000 hit by fuel poverty claim

SOARING energy bills have left an estimated 16,000 households in Oldham in fuel poverty, it has been claimed.

Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesperson for Oldham East and Saddleworth, Elwyn Watkins, is now demanding the Government act urgently to help people struggling to pay their fuel bills.

He is also calling on MPs of all parties to back the Fuel Poverty Bill being introduced by Liberal Democrat MP David Heath.

Mr Watkins said: “These new estimates from Consumer Focus are truly shocking.

“More than one in six households in Oldham are in fuel poverty this winter, including four out of five single pensioner households.

“This is even worse than the situation nationally. It’s not hard to see the culprit.

“Over the last five years average gas and electricity bills have more than doubled.

“The prices being paid by energy companies for fuel on the wholesale markets are coming down, but the companies aren’t passing on the cuts to their customers. And meanwhile they are making big profits. This is totally unacceptable.”

The definition of fuel poverty is when a household needs to spend more than 10 per cent of their household income on energy bills.

Mr Watkins added: “As recession bites, across the country an increasing number of people are being faced with the dreadful choice between heating and eating.

“I am calling on the Government to take urgent action to help people struggling with high fuel bills.

“The Fuel Poverty Bill currently in Parliament, proposed by Liberal Democrat MP David Heath, would deliver a massive home insulation programme which would halve the energy needed to heat the average home.

“And it would end the scandal of those who use pre-pay meters paying higher rates for their gas and electricity.”