Steve Hawkes writes in The Telegraph about the change in definition of fuel poverty that will remove up to one million people from being considered fuel poor. Is this a good move or not? Campaigners certainly do not think so.
Government takes 1m out of fuel poverty – by changing the rules
Campaigners criticised the Government after Ministers took 1m people out of fuel poverty – by changing the way the measure is calculated.
The Department for Energy and Climate Change said a new definition that cut the official number of “fuel poor” families from 3.5m to 2.5m was being introduced to ensure help is “targeted at those who need it most”.
But critics at the Fuel Poverty Action Group said the Government had “masked an escalating cold homes crisis” by simply redefining the problem.
Under the old measure, any family spending more than 10pc of their income on gas and electricity was judged as being “fuel poor”.
Last year energy secretary Ed Davey said this meant that technically, even the Queen may be considered to be in fuel poverty, because of the cost of heating Buckingham Palace and other estates.
The new measure from DECC classes fuel poverty as a home where “the total income is below the poverty line, and energy costs are higher than typical”.
DECC also dropped its legal commitment to eradicating fuel poverty where reasonably possible by 2016, but promised a new “framework” that will set goals to tackle the problem.
The Government hinted at a change last year, and the initial proposals were condemned by the National Energy Action group. Last night the NEA said it welcomed the new “commitment” to tackling the issue beyond 2016.
But James Granger, of Fuel Poverty Action, said: “For the millions of UK households driven into an impossible choice between heating and eating by spiralling gas prices and Government cuts, news that the Government’s response is to re-define the problem will not be taken kindly.
“Any reduction in the number of households classed as ‘fuel poor’ under the Government’s new definition will only mask an escalating cold homes crisis.
“Instead of rethinking the definition of fuel poverty, we should start rethinking the fundamentals of our energy system that prioritises Big Six profits over people’s lives.”
Campaigners had long argued the old definition had under-played the extent of the energy crisis and that as many as five million were in fuel poverty.
Last year a Government-commissioned report claimed this number could double to ten million by 2016 because of rising energy prices and costly green taxes.
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 
Back in 2000 the UK Parliament agreed legislation that mandated the Government to put in place policies that would eradicate fuel poverty by2016. Initially programmes were introduced which set the Government on course to achieve this objective.
But the Government elected in 2010 first substantially reduced, and from this January, eradicated the key programme designed to improve the energy efficiency of low income households. Now many more households are in fuel poverty than in 2010.
Solution: don’t reinstate the housing improvement programme. Instead alter the definition of fuel poverty to decrease the numbers radically. And then place some last minute Clauses into an unrelated Government Bill which effectively neuters the original Act passed in 2000. Clever, eh?
I find all of this quite depressing. Well this Coalition government has been dismantling a lot of social benefits. Sadly, the UK has been a real inspiration to the rest of Europe to take fuel poverty seriously. One could get quite cynical . . . But this is too serious.
Rod, I am sure most of “the rest of Europe” is learning that the best way to judge the effectiveness of UK policy is by disregarding the vain-glorious self-congratulatory theoretical speeches. And simply examining what actually happens in practice. The two are frequently entirely unrelated.
Andrew, you are right but a lot of propaganda comes from the UK and the Commission, for one, seems to be taken in by it. Whether it is the Green Deal or “fuel poverty” UK is always shown as a shining example. It would be good if there was good examination of what happens. Luckily there are organisations such as ACE to keep things honest.