A household is said to be in fuel poverty if they have fuel costs above the national average and if the amount they were to spend would leave them with a residual income below the poverty line. Fuel poverty is caused by three factors: inadequate heating and insulation; low incomes and high cost energy.
Living in a cold home can affect physical and mental health and wellbeing, damaging health and affecting quality of life.
There are an estimated 59,295 households living in fuel poverty in Derbyshire which equates to 13.7% of all Derbyshire households.
There were also an estimated 463 excess winter deaths in Derbyshire in 2013/2013, with evidence linking the impact of poorly insulated homes on excess winter deaths.
Our aim is to enable authorities and partners to tackle fuel poverty and affordable warmth in a consistent and strategic manner.
To achieve this aim we set out the following objectives:
- Identify households that are in fuel poverty or are at risk of being in fuel poverty
- Encourage households to take up measures to increase their access to affordable warmth
- Secure investment for measures for fuel poor households and those whose health conditions put them at greater risk
- Raise awareness of the impact of fuel poverty and solutions
- Seek to ensure that there is an operational system in place so that households at risk of being in fuel poverty are identified by partners and referred for energy advice