Carolyn Harris MP is supporting charity National Energy Action’s Fuel Poverty Awareness Day by pledging to do more to ‘tackle cold homes’.
Fuel Poverty Awareness Day is a national campaign to highlight the problem of fuel poverty, which currently sees over four million households unable to afford the energy they need to stay warm and healthy in their homes. It is a particular problem for those in low incomes living in energy inefficient homes that are difficult and expensive to heat.
Mrs Harris said ‘living in a cold damp home can lead to extremely poor health, especially in those who are vulnerable such as older people, young children, and those with long term sickness and disabilities. Not only will it be causing misery for millions of people this winter, but also placing a huge strain on our already stretched health services. In Wales, 386,000 households (30%) are believed to be in fuel poverty.
‘More needs to be done nationally, however I know that there is excellent work going on in my constituency and across the UK to tackle this issue, and I look forward to working alongside others in the community to help raise awareness of the problem and the solutions available’.
Jenny Saunders OBE, Chief Executive of National Energy Action commented: Fuel poverty is a serious problem and one that we cannot tackle alone. I am delighted that Carolyn is supporting the campaign and helping to ensure that her constituents can live warm, healthy and happy lives.
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National Energy Action is the national fuel poverty charity, working across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure everyone can afford to stay warm in their homes. For more information visit www.nea.org.uk
Latest government statistics indicate that there are over 4 million UK households in fuel poverty. Fuel poverty is caused by a combination of low incomes, high energy prices and poor quality energy-inefficient housing. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics
Statistics for each constituency are available at http://www.fpeeg.org.uk/
