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Dept of the Environment Transport and the Regions

Answer

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Nottingham, South (Mr. Simpson), on 18 January 2001, Official Report, column 294W, on fuel poor households, if he will estimate on the same basis the number of fuel poor households in each nation and region of the United Kingdom in 1996. [147247] Mr. Meacher: The common definition of a fuel poor household is one that needs to spend in excess of 10 per cent. of household income in order to maintain a satisfactory heating regime. Using data from the latest English House Condition Survey, the following table shows the effect of different options for calculating household income on the number of households defined as fuel poor by Government Office region in 1996{1}. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Government Office region (a) Income including Housing (b) Income excluding Housing (c) Income excluding housing Benefit and Income Support for Benefit and Income Support for expenditure (£000) Mortgage Interest (£000) Mortgage interest (£000) North East 330 370 470 Yorkshire and Humberside 560 650 770 West Midlands 550 640 820 North West 700 890 1,080 South West 440 520 710 East Midlands 360 440 560 Greater London 480 670 930 Eastern 360 450 630 South East 450 580 830 England (£ million) {2}4.3 {2}5.3 {2}6.8 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} Assumes fuel costs include those for non-heating purposes. {2} Due to the manner in which these data are processed and rounded, the total reported nationally differs very slightly from the sum of the individual regions. Fuel poverty is a devolved matter and it is the responsibility of the respective Parliament and Assemblies to comment on the situation in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

147247; 362 c193-4W

Session

2000-01

Subjects

Households Fuel poverty Heating Fuels Income Low incomes

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk