Stroud could become one of the UK’s first “Warm and Well Towns” under plans to be explored by a new action group formed after our public meeting held in Stroud.

More than 30 people attended our event at the Imperial Hotel to explore the current fuel poverty crisis. It was one of 12 held across the country during the National Warm Homes Campaign.

Speakers included county councillor Brian Oostyhusen, Kaye Welfare from the Severn Wye Energy Agency and Stroud MP Neil Carmichael (MP) who gave details of the government’s forthcoming Green Deal.

The meeting heard that due to rising fuel costs and stagnant incomes, over 15% of households in the Stroud District are in fuel poverty.

Keynote speaker Dr Brenda Boardman MBE (left), from Oxford University, told the meeting that the key to tackling fuel poverty was to improve the fuel efficiency of the UK’s 26 million homes.

“If we’re going to eradicate fuel poverty by 2016 we’ve got to get on with it,” she said. “One way this could be done, is to identify one low-carbon zone per local authority where the fuel poor are concentrated.”

“We should tackle every home in that area with the necessary insulation and fuel efficiency measures to take it out of fuel poverty. If you do it street-by-street, you get economies of scale and can bring-in community solutions such as combined heat and power or anaerobic digestion.”

Andy Treacher from Wood U Waste said he believed Stroud was a place where such an idea could become reality. “Our dream is that Stroud should become a Warm and Well Town, where nobody dies or becomes ill because they have insufficient heating.”

Wood u Waste is currently collecting details of anyone interested in helping to develop such a project. We plan to hold an initial meeting in the New Year.

If you would like to get involved with this action group or just be updated on progress please send us your name, phone and email address via the “Contact Us” button on the toolbar above.

Before the public meeting, Dr Boardman visited the Uplands Care Service (above) to officially launch our £10,000 charity appeal to help vulnerable households in Gloucestershire stay warm this winter.

Every pensioner in the country is receiving the government’s Winter Fuel Allowance of at least £200. However it is estimated that only one in four actually needs the money to keep warm. We are asking those who do not need the money, to donate all or part of it to help others.

More details can be found online at www.donateyourfuelallowance.com

The Uplands Care Service is one of four groups being supported by the appeal. Care and Repair (Stroud), Wood U Waste’s Briquette Project and the Acorn Day Care Centre are the other three to benefit.

A 25-minute documentary on fuel poverty has been produced by our local community radio station, Stroud FM. It covers our public meeting in Stroud last week during the National Warm Homes Campaign.

The programme explores the complex issues surrounding fuel poverty and its links with the climate change agenda. It uncovers some of the key problems and offers some solutions, including ambitious plans for a project in Stroud.

We hear from Dr Brenda Boardman, one of the UK’s leading experts on the subject, Stroud Conservative MP Neil Carmichael, Debbie Hewitt and Andy Treacher from Wood U Waste, Kay Welfare from the Severn Wye Energy Agency and Rodborough county councillor Brian Oosthuysen.

You can listen again to the show or download it as a podcast here

Failing on Fuel Poverty? Challenges and Solutions
Fuel Poverty Open Meeting Stroud , Thursday 8th December 7pm at the Imperial Hotel (opposite Stroud train station). This event is part of the National Warm Homes Campaign.

Soaring fuel prices and an energy -inefficient housing stock mean that more and more people will find it difficult to keep warm this winter. Fuel poverty has become one of the biggest issues facing the UK. Our government is still committed to eradicating fuel poverty by 2016. Is this an impossible pledge?
The main speaker will be Dr Brenda Boardman MBE, one of the UK’s leading experts in fuel poverty. Neil Carmichael MP, Brian Oosthuysen (Glos County Council) and Kaye Welfare from the Severn Wye Energy Agency will also be speaking.
This will be a lively meeting with Q&A sessions and chance to share any comments and knowledge you may have.
There will be refreshments available from 6.30pm onwards. This is a free event.
For more information contact Debbie Hewitt on 07794 262477

The Fuel Direct Scheme (fuel payments deducted from benefits at source) leaves too little for some people to live on.
To see the full story follow the link http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15412597

The Telegraph reports that environment policy reforms are set to add £300 to energy bills by 2020
A leaked briefing document from Senior Energy Advisor to David Cameron and former BP executive, Ben Moxham, has led the Telegraph to claim that Household energy bills will rise by more than £300 a year by the end of the decade as a result of the Coalition’s green policies.

On 5 September 2011, The Telegraph ran the front page headline “Environment policy reforms to add £300 to energy bills“ and reported:

“The Prime Minister has been warned that government plans to get people to reduce their bills through efficiency measures are likely to fail.

Mr Cameron’s senior energy adviser pours scorn on claims by Chris Huhne, the Energy Secretary, that rises in gas and oil prices will be offset by people using less power. A note by the adviser describes his department’s analysis as “unconvincing”.

It warns that the Government’s move to increased nuclear power, wind turbines and other measures will add 30 per cent to the average family’s annual energy bill of £1,069 by the end of the decade.“

The full article is available to read at:
www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/greenpolitics/8741779/Advisers-letter-to-David-Cameron-on-energy-and-climate-policies.html

PRESS RELEASE:

An award-winning charity based in Stroud has warned that the government needs to ‘live in the real world’ as it develops plans to get more households to fuel switch to help cut rising energy bills.

According to National Energy Action the average energy bill in 2004 was £580. By 2010 this had risen to £1,194. This winter households will face further bill increases of up to 20%.

Energy Secretary Chris Huhne announced yesterday at the Liberal Democrat Conference in Birmingham that he wanted to ‘get tough’ on the Big Six energy companies. He said they needed to simplify tariffs and make it easier to get a better deal on bills.

He was criticised by many after he was reported in The Times as saying that many people ‘can’t be bothered’ to hunt for a better deal and would rather spend time hunting for a £25 toaster on-line than researching energy savings.

However Debbie Hewitt, project manager at the Stroud-based fuel poverty charity Wood U Waste, is already running a project that helps vulnerable households in Gloucestershire to fuel switch.  She warns that assisting those at most risk from rising fuel bills is not as easy as politicians seem to think.

‘We have worked with numerous groups of elderly people around the Stroud District’ she explains, ‘and there is one message that comes across loud and clear. In the real world, the majority of people over 60 are not confident on the internet and are therefore excluded from searching for better energy deals online. Where is the government funding to empower the elderly to access these fuel switch sites?”

Wood U Waste is a registered charity seeking to alleviate fuel poverty in various ways. Its briquette project works with Leyhill Prison to turn waste sawdust into low cost fuel. Two years ago this initiative was recognized as the ‘Best in Britain’ by a government-sponsored award scheme.

This winter Wood U Waste will be running a Winter Fuel Payment Appeal. It will be urging thousands of the more well-off  households who will automatically receive the payments of between £200-300 to donate some or all of the cash to four local organisations working to keep vulnerable local people warm. One of these has a project offering visits to elderly people who cannot use the internet to help them search for better fuel deals on a laptop in their own homes.

To make a donation to the Appeal please see www.donateyourfuelallowance.com or send a cheque, made payable to ‘Wood U Waste Ltd’ to 1Henley Villas, Uplands Rd, Stroud GL5 1UH. For more information telephone Debbie on 07794 262477.

According to the Chief Executive of the Citizens Advice Bureaux Gillian Guy ‘living in a cold home has a devastating impact on people’s pysical and mental health’.

She also expressed concerns that an increasing number of consumers were having to make the decision as to whether to heat their home adequately or cut back on food last winter.

In 2010 the CAB advised on over 100,000 fuel debt problems.

Reported inThe Telegraph July 14th 2011. To read the full article see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/8637125/Households-in-fuel-poverty-jump.html

The official consumer body, Consumer Focus, warns of a strong rise in fuel poverty during 2011.

“Four of the Big Six Energy Suppliers have yet to announce their expected price rises,” said Audrey Gallacher at Consumer Focus.

“If these are in line with the increases announced from British Gas and Scottish Power around 12 million people, or 6.4 million British households, are likely to be in fuel poverty when the latest price rises hit.”

To read the full article see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14151032

According to the most recent fuel poverty statistics published by DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change), the overall effect of fuel price rises since 2004 has far outweighed the impact of increasing incomes and energy efficiency.

Domestic electricity prices between 2004 and 2009 increased by 75%, while gas prices increased by over 122% in the same period.

Higher fuel bills meant the number of homes affected by fuel poverty in 2009 rose by one million, or 22%, to 5.5 million, the DECC said.

To read artice in full http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14151032

Philip Booth, Green Councillor for Stroud District council has written an informative and up-to-date report on the rising problem of fuel poverty within the Stroud District and nationally.

See his blog http://ruscombegreen.blogspot.com/2011/06/fuel-poverty-success-at-cabinet.html