Fuel Poverty : Affordable Heating !?

Angua2

Dear Fran & Everyone -

Having recently stumbled across your fab list of resources and I was just wondering if you might consider including:

(1) Winter Survival Guide

"According to the Office of National Statistics and the charity Help the Aged, 25,000 elderly people in England and Wales died of preventable, cold-related illnesses last year.

"The statistics have been released as part of the charity’s campaign for free central heating and insulation for pensioners, which is currently in place in Scotland.

"But as fuel prices continue to rise year on year, its not just the elderly who struggle to keep up with the growing costs, and the coming winter can seem quite daunting.

"Follow our guide to keep energy costs down and your family safe from the cold."

(2) Fuel Poverty (Scottish Government)

"An Adviser's Guide to Referral Networks

"This document is also available in
pdf format (268k)

"What is fuel poverty?

"Fuel poverty is when you cannot afford to heat your home.

"This can mean living in a cold, damp house, struggling to pay your fuel bills - or both."

(3) April 2008 Briefing on Fuel Poverty OFGEM

(4) HomeHeatHelpline

(5) Energy Shouldn't Cost the Earth

(6) Affordable Warmth

(7) Affordable Warmth Services from ChangeWorks (Edinburgh & Lothians)

(8) Affordable warmth
Sustainable world from NEA

(9) NEA England

(10) NEA Wales

(11) NEA Northern Ireland

(12) Energy Saving Trust : The Guide : Northern Ireland

(13) Energy Saving Trust : The Guide : Wales

(14) Energy Saving Trust : The Guide : Scotland

(15) Energy Saving Trust : The Guide : England

Hope this is of help/interest! Keep warm, everyone!


PS: Cutting & Pasting dropped the html codes/URL links - will recover as soon as...

Conor_3

Perhaps if many of them spent their winter fuel allowance on gas and electric instead of Xmas presents or sticking it in the bank for a rainy day, they might be alive. The winter fuel payment more than covers the heating bill over winter. Sadly, it's given as cash so is open to it being spent on other things. It's about time it was moved to a voucher system or similar.

Angua2

Conor wrote: »

Perhaps if many of them spent their winter fuel allowance on gas and electric instead of Xmas presents or sticking it in the bank for a rainy day, they might be alive. The winter fuel payment more than covers the heating bill over winter. Sadly, it's given as cash so is open to it being spent on other things. It's about time it was moved to a voucher system or similar.

Hiya. As one of 'them', I'm not sure quite how to understand your point... Not saying it's not valid, but my intention was to provide support, not to criticise....

Take care - glad you're not one of 'them', I mean 'us'.

Please don't feel the need to explain, my PhD is in semiotics, so languages aren't a foreign language to me - you see, poverty traps aren't just for the working class 'thems'...

There but for the grace of God go....

PS: Do forgive me if I've misinterpreted... I am left wondering just how heavy that stone you're casting is... I'd also recommend changing the glass house for a more compassionate material... As you can tell, I'm right cheesed off by the 'them' sh*^e

tincat

Angua2 wrote: »

Hiya. As one of 'them', I'm not sure quite how to understand your point... Not saying it's not valid, but my intention was to provide support, not to criticise....

Take care - glad you're not one of 'them', I mean 'us'.

Please don't feel the need to explain, my PhD is in semiotics, so languages aren't a foreign language to me - you see, poverty traps aren't just for the working class 'thems'...

There but for the grace of God go....

PS: Do forgive me if I've misinterpreted... I am left wondering just how heavy that stone you're casting is... I'd also recommend changing the glass house for a more compassionate material... As you can tell, I'm right cheesed off by the 'them' sh*^e

I don't have a PhD, but it seems quite clear to me that 'them' refers to the 25,000 elderly people in England and Wales who died of preventable, cold-related illnesses last year.

Angua2

tincat wrote: »

I don't have a PhD, but it seems quite clear to me that 'them' refers to the 25,000 elderly people in England and Wales who died of preventable, cold-related illnesses last year.

Glad that's quite clear to you! :beer:

What remains unclear is how a voucher system would enhance the lives of the elderly who already have their rights and opportunities - as well as their autonomy, independence and occasionally their dignity - diminished purely by the natural process of aging. If we're lucky, we will all be old one day....

I think you'll get that my bugbear is the "us v. them" mentality manifested in the post against which I objected...

PS: Hope you're doing your bit, Tincat, to ensure your elderly family members and neighbours don't become part of the appalling statistics you cite! :T Holding informal, coffee-morning style clinics - at home or in village halls/community centres - to relate information about what help is available to stay warm is a good way forward. PLUS you meet some absolutely gorgeous people!

And, btw, I am proud of the phud - it took a lot of years and overcoming many obstacles.

septemberblues

Conor wrote: »

Perhaps if many of them spent their winter fuel allowance on gas and electric instead of Xmas presents or sticking it in the bank for a rainy day, they might be alive. The winter fuel payment more than covers the heating bill over winter. Sadly, it's given as cash so is open to it being spent on other things. It's about time it was moved to a voucher system or similar.

You may find that the winter fuel allowance was not spent on heating OR christmas presents, but on food/council tax etc by pensioners who don't have enough money for day-to-day living.

shjo558

Poor Pensioners don't pay council Tax though

Angua2

shjo558 wrote: »

Poor Pensioners don't pay council Tax though

For each poor pension who doesn't pay council tax, there might well be another pensioner who either slips through the net or fails to qualify by a few £'s and thus struggles... Hence the frequent reports in the press that the elderly fail to receive the benefits to which they are entitled!

Rikki

Angua2 wrote: »

For each poor pension who doesn't pay council tax, there might well be another pensioner who either slips through the net or fails to qualify by a few £'s and thus struggles... Hence the frequent reports in the press that the elderly fail to receive the benefits to which they are entitled!

My Mum is only just out of the zone where help is available. Like many the heating allowance is all the help she gets.

ecgirl07

shjo558 wrote: »

Poor Pensioners don't pay council Tax though

If by poor pensioners you mean those who receive the guarantee element of pension credit then you are right, most people in this situation do okay and have recourse to help to get them through harder times.

The real "poor pensioners" in the uk are the ones who have a little private pension or a little savings - in many cases they just miss the thresholds and have to pay a full council tax bill (less single person discount if app) this means their private pensions pay the CT and they have no gateway benfits to help in harder times. It is in this demographic you will find the real hidden poor pensioners. I'd be sure that a good per centage of "poor pensioners" are poor because they are paying council tax.

elektra-2007

N-POWER have got a sceme ive just joined called spreading the warmth...they add £250 a year to your gas and elecrtic £125 to each...if your on a pre payment meter they will send it via vouchers or top up cards ect, heres the criteria
Who is eligible?
If you have a gross annual household income of less than £13,500 and where someone in the household meets at least one of the eligibility criteria below:

• aged over 60
• disabled
• suffers from a chronic illness
• a child under 16

So if your in this catagory and with N-POWER get signing up!