Fuel poverty in London

This report warns that despite efforts by the government, the Mayor and a range of targeted initiatives and incentives, the number of households affected by fuel poverty in London is continuing to rise.

‘In from the cold’, by our Health and Public Services Committee, makes a series of recommendations that could help improve the situation for the nearly one in five London households who struggle to heat their homes and pay their energy bills.

Unless action is taken to tackle the problem, long-term energy price rises will continue to push more people into fuel poverty: the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) own projections show a worst case scenario that almost a quarter of households will be in fuel poverty by next year.

The Committee’s recommendations include:

• Home insulation and energy efficiency programmes like RE:NEW are the best and most sustainable ways to tackle fuel poverty. Energy companies should fund the RE:NEW 2 programme.
• The RE:NEW 2 programme should be used to provide a comprehensive referral service to other sources of support for households in fuel poverty, including advice on discounts, tariffs and how to boost income.
• The GLA should agree criteria for areas to be selected for RE:NEW 2.
• There should be a regional target for future funding for Government energy efficiency programmes.
• Eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount should be managed better to increase take-up among those at risk of fuel poverty.

The Committee has also helped develop a new mapping tool using open public data to help delivery organisations identify areas in London most likely to contain households at risk of fuel poverty and offer them targeted support.

Read the report, In from the cold, and the evidence we received: