One thing we have learnt this week – fuel poverty grows

DSC_1715Fuel poverty grows.  Actually this might be better news than it first sounds.  Unusually for a Tory government which normally massages figures so that there appears to be less poverty than it really is, this one has done the opposite.  Quite frankly its so surprising I wonder whether May did it to dump on Boris.

It might be good news since those in fuel poverty (now 3.66 million on the revised figures) get help.  The ideas is to move all homes for the fuel poor up band C energy efficiency by 2030.  The main problem is this is going to take a lot of money (£15.8 billion) and is going very very slowly.  At such a snail’s like pace that on current rates it will take 96 years.  Currently the government is spending £6 billion.  In the meanwhile energy prices are not exactly falling, fuel poverty grows and the problem is getting worse – not better.  In the meanwhile since subsidy cuts were made the rate of energy efficiency measures generally has fallen by 85% since 2014.

There clearly needs to be a step change in commitment to get this problem solved in less than a geological timescale and its hard to avoid the conclusion that the government doesn’t really care despite the climate emergency.

Neil

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