The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

Indicator 20. Fuel Poverty

Total number of households living in fuel poverty

Households living in fuel poverty by National Home Energy Rating ( NHER)

Source: 1996 Scottish House Condition Survey: 2002 Scottish House Condition Survey

Notes: NHER is based on the total energy costs per square metre of floor area required to achieve a standard heating regime. The NHER of a property is assessed on a scale of 0-10 with ranges of: poor 0-2, moderate 3-7 and good 8-10.

The relevance of the indicator

Sustainable communities are those where people can afford to keep adequately warm at a reasonable cost. We are committed to tackling the energy inefficiency which is one of the causes of fuel poverty.

Choice of indicator

This is the indicator used in the Scottish Fuel Poverty Statement¹ published under the terms of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 in August 2002 and the UK Fuel Poverty Statement published in November 2001.

Detailed definition and source details

The definition that we have adopted for the purpose of the commitment to end fuel poverty by 2016 is:

A household is in fuel poverty if, in order to maintain a satisfactory heating regime, it would be required to spend more than 10% of its income (including Housing Benefit or Income Support for Mortgage Interest) on all household fuel use.

We will also monitor changes in the numbers of people in fuel poverty using a definition of household income which excludes Housing Benefit and Income Support for Mortgage Interest.

Within the definition the following explanations apply:

Satisfactory heating regime - the levels are those recommended by the World Health Organisation. For elderly and infirm households, this is 23° C in the living room and 18° C in other rooms, to be achieved for 16 hours in every 24. For other households, this is 21° C in the living room and 18° C in other rooms for a period of 9 hours in every 24 (or 16 in 24 over the weekend); with two hours being in the morning and seven hours in the evening.

Household income - income before housing costs, to mirror the definition used in the UK Households Below Average Income ( HBAI) Statistics.

The 1996 definition for fuel poverty used in the report Fuel Poverty in Scotland: Analysis of the Scottish House Condition Survey 1996² was: "A household which needs to spend more than 10% of its income on all household fuel is said to be fuel poor." The differences between the 1996 and the 2002 definitions are as follows: in the 2002 definition there is no adjustment for under-occupancy, which increases the figure by 34,000 households; in the 2002 definition income is income net of council tax, which increases the figure by 49,300 households; and in the 2002 definition a more general question was asked to assess 'long-term illness' (to assess the number of infirm households), which increases the figure by 36,000. Further, in the 1996 definition a higher heating regime was used for households with a child under 5 years old, which reduces the figure by 2,500 households.

Further information on the definition is included in the Scottish Fuel Poverty Statement.

Trends

In 1996, there were 738,000 households in fuel poverty in Scotland. The 2002 Scottish House Condition Survey showed that, using the 1996 definition, that figure was 201,000 households and, using the more inclusive 2002 definition, it was 286,000 households. Since 1996, there have been a number of developments at both UK and Scottish level which have contributed to this reduction. The "Fuel Poverty in Scotland" report published in April 2004 gives a detailed analysis of the figures in the 2002 Scottish House Condition Survey and

goes some way towards quantifying the effect of some of these measures. It indicated that 50% of the change in fuel poverty levels is due to increased household incomes; 35% to decreased fuel prices and 15% to improved domestic energy efficiency. However it should be noted that because of the timing of the Scottish House Condition Survey the full effects of the SE domestic energy efficiency programmes may not be felt in the report. It should also be noted that increases in fuel prices subsequent to the report will have had an effect on fuel poverty levels.

Further disaggregation

The 2004 report "Fuel Poverty in Scotland" gives further disaggregation of the Scottish House Condition Survey 2002 data. It shows that there is a strong association between income and fuel poverty. It indicates that the best predictors of fuel poverty are income band, tenure and extent of central heating. It tells us that 63% of fuel poor households in receipt of benefit receive the State Retirement Pension and that 25% of households in receipt of this benefit are fuel poor.

Target

To ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, that people are not living in fuel poverty in Scotland by 2016. Our interim targets are to reduce the number of households living in fuel poverty by 30% by 2006 over 2002 figures and to have achieved a further reduction in the total numbers between 2006 and 2010.

Action

We are studying the findings of the "Fuel Poverty in Scotland" report to consider what programmes we should put in place towards the eradication of fuel poverty after our current programmes end in 2006.

In Building a Better Scotland³, published in September 2002, we made a commitment that all private sector houses occupied by elderly people and all housing associations and local authority houses would have central heating by 2006. All social sector housing where the householder wishes it now has central heating with the exception of Glasgow Housing Association where work will be complete in March 2007. The programme for pensioner householders in the private sector will run till the end of March 2006.

The Partnership Agreement⁴ commits us to extend the home insulation and central heating programme to improve another 4000 homes by 2006, initially directing resources to the over 80s who have partial or poorly functioning heating systems. By the end of May 2005, 2255 partially or poorly functioning systems have been upgraded for the over 80s and EAGA are on course to meet the 2006 target. We will evaluate the success of the programme, with a view to extending the scheme to other pensioner groups beyond 2006.

In addition, we are working with local authorities, the energy companies and voluntary organisations to tackle fuel poverty through a range of activities, including:

• A call from Scottish Minister to energy companies to develop a social tariff for customers on Pension Credit to help ensure that these vulnerable customers do not live in fuel poverty.

developing knowledge about the nature and extent of fuel poverty and the impact of particular interventions;

• working with statutory, voluntary and private sector organisations to raise awareness of fuel poverty and the ways in which it can be addressed;

• investing in housing improvement measures through Scottish Executive programmes such as the Central Heating Programme, the Warm Deal and community ownership and through work with the energy companies and local authorities through the Energy Efficiency Commitment and Community Energy Partnerships;

• improving energy efficiency measures in new housing stock through the building regulations and through the development and promotion of new technology;

• developing partnership working and local co-ordination to ensure that programmes are delivered effectively to those who can benefit from them and the maximum value is obtained from the overall investment.

More is said about our forward work programme in the Scottish Fuel Poverty Statement and the Scottish Executive Fuel Poverty Forum, which includes the main organisations with an interest in fuel poverty, are working with us to develop and implement the work programme.

Footnotes

TWENTY

1 Available on the Scottish Executive website at: www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/environment/sfps-00.asp

2 Available on the internet at: www.scot-homes.gov.uk/cgi-bin/displaypubs.pl?&227&archive

3 Available on the Scottish Executive website at: www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/government/babs-00.asp

4 Available on the Scottish Executive website at: www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/government/pfbs-00.asp

« Previous | Contents | Next »