The Energy Bill Revolution

A new campaign calling for much more help for people facing rising fuel bills has identified the ten constituencies in the North East region with the highest percentage of people struggling to pay their bills.

Using the Government’s latest fuel poverty figures, the Energy Bill Revolution campaign has found the problem is worst in the following constituencies:

With the pressure on bills increasing as fossil fuel prices continue to rise, the Energy Bill Revolution is calling for the Government to recycle the taxes charged on fuel bills into a major new insulations scheme that would cut bills by helping people to use less fuel to keep warm. The programme of home improvements needed would also help create jobs and reduce our climate change emissions. Making sure we need to use far less fuel to keep homes warm is the only permanent solution to fuel poverty.

Four of the ten MPs representing the worst constituencies in the North East have declared their support for the Energy Bill Revolution campaign for warm homes and lower bills – Alan Beith, Ian Mearns, Grahame Morris and David Anderson. These MPs have added their names to a cross-party statement tabled in Parliament (Early Day Motion 47 – Reducing Fuel Bills through Energy Efficiency). In total 135 MPs have backed the campaign so far.

From 2013 onwards, the Government will raise an average of £4 billion in carbon taxes every year from the European Emissions Trading Scheme and the Carbon Floor Price. This is enough to bring 9 out of 10 homes out of fuel poverty. It could quadruple carbon emissions savings compared to the Government’s new energy efficiency policies, and create up to 200,000 more jobs – exactly what we need to support the UK’s economic recovery.

Research for the Energy Bill Revolution has revealed that fuel poverty could affect 9.1 million households by 2016, the year in which the Government has a target to eliminate fuel poverty. This is a potential rise of 40% which would increase the number of UK households in fuel poverty from one in four to one in three.

Members of the public are being encouraged to sign up to the public petition and join the campaign at www.energybillrevolution.org

Ed Matthew, Director of Transform UK, the organisation which is coordinating the campaign said:

“It is scandalous that anyone in a developed country should face the choice of whether to buy food or heat their home. From next year the Government will have the money to end the blight of fuel poverty. This is the most fair and just solution and we hope all MPs will join the 135 MPs who are currently supporting it.”

–ENDS–

Notes to Editors

1. For more information about the Energy Bill Revolution and the recent report on fuel poverty, visit: www.energybillrevolution.org
   
2. The Energy Bill Revolution is an alliance of more than 80 leading charities, unions, consumer groups and businesses – including Barnardo’s, National Children’s Bureau, Save the Children, The Children’s Society, National Pensioners’ Convention, Consumer Focus, The Co-operative Group, USwitch, Kingfisher, IKEA, Asda, Kingspan, National Energy Action, Macmillan Cancer Support, TUC, GMB, NUS, Unite, UNISON, FMB, RIBA, The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, the Association for the Conservation of Energy, and Friends of the Earth. To find out who’s on board, visitwww.energybillrevolution.org/whos-behind-it/
3. For a full list of MPs supporting the Energy Bill Revolution, visit: http://www.energybillrevolution.org/supporting-mps/

Contact: Ed Matthew, Campaign Director of the Energy Bill Revolution, on 07827 157906, email: ed@energybillrevolution.org