Sue Nicholas- Location: river
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 6,023
5 November 2009
10:1832464There is a report in todays Dover Express regarding the above .Yes approx 3,000homes in Dover suffer from fuel poverty Dover has the second highest record of fuel poverty in Kent .This does not make for good reading .When some people are planning exotic holidays or a wonderful Christmas time to reflect on these figures .I worked on housing for over tweve years and i was always aware of the problems the people of this district suffer .Some may laugh as I recall my bus journeys but I have always understood that Dover is not currently world class .I have always tried to sort out at the ground roots ,hence my strong objection to the screen .Im nolonger in a position to help these people but I will continue to try with my new remitt to obtain further grants for our district .I will not give up .
It is a sad state of affairs .None of us should rest easy until we improve the conditions of some of our properties .and the lives of our residents who suffer in this way.
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
5 November 2009
17:4532474sue,can you define fuel poverty for me.
correct me if im wrong here but regarding fuel poverty,is this because either 1,people dont budget for it or 2,people spend money on somthing they dont need.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
5 November 2009
17:4932475i understand it to be when a percentage of household income is too high.
well done to susan for highlighting this very serious issue.
in a civilised society everybody is entitled to a reasonably warm house.
5 November 2009
19:3232483|Indeed, Howard. Does anyone remember the excruciating adfvice from Edwina Currie to elders with little or no money to spare for fuel bills to "wear woolly hats and socks" and keep moving. Patronising mis-hap.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
5 November 2009
19:5432485wasn't there a wizz kid from brutish gas a while back that told everyone to put extra jumpers on indoors too?
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
6 November 2009
07:3232499With the cost of fuel nowadays that's not surprising; I believe that last bit of advice was to help keeps bills lower as well as use less energy.
My undertsanding (from the Department of Energy and Climate Change) is that the household is said to be in fuel poverty if it needs to spend more than 10% of its income, on fuel to maintain a satisfactory heating regime.
Roger
Guest 674- Registered: 25 Jun 2008
- Posts: 3,391
6 November 2009
08:2232506blame it all on the labour govt must be there fault, eeverything that happens must be there faiult
Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
6 November 2009
08:2932511The reason the price of fuel is so high is because its no longer a nationalised industry providing an excellent service for its users but a profit based private overseas company operating in order to get the biggest dividends for its shareholders. Simple.
The Tories intend to freeze fuel payments to the elderly and then eventually scrap them altogether if elected.So you had better start chopping up your furniture Sue.Electricity prices in Jersey will drop by 5% in January 2010.
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
Guest 674- Registered: 25 Jun 2008
- Posts: 3,391
6 November 2009
08:4132515MAREK
And thats not the only CUTS the tories propose to bring in and in the first 2 years should we have the dsaster of them being elected.
So while we pay for all the big banks mistakes
public services cuts will be made by a tory govt in first 2 years
whilst banks will continue to rip us off
disaster all round.
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
6 November 2009
09:0632518so its the tories fault now,so much for selling off the silver ware.
Guest 674- Registered: 25 Jun 2008
- Posts: 3,391
6 November 2009
09:0832519Tories made it clear
they will cut cut cut cut
tax credits of all kinds not supported by tories
so a lot of hardship ahead
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
6 November 2009
09:1332521thats all the know how to do,profit before poverty.
Sue Nicholas- Location: river
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 6,023
6 November 2009
09:5932528This tread was not started as Blame blame but to hilight that there are some very vulnerable people in our district .The 10% of income does come into play but so many of our houses have old heating systems ,no loft installation andin some cases only one fire .I have visited some of these homes .I have also seen the problems when radiators have been turned off to save money .Stop blame blame and look at the bigger picture .It would do some of you good to visit some of these homes .
In the larger homes where you only have one elderly resident some live and sleep in just one room just to keep down the cost of fuel bills .Yes and its here in River .
Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
6 November 2009
11:3832534Sue
So what are these pensioners spending their winter fuel allowance on? I know I could heat my house for a quarter with the fuel allowance.
Also the council of which you are part should introduce a window scrappage scheme so if old folk don't have double glazing and are none council residents they could get X£ thousands off their new windows by trading in their old wooden ones.Similar with old energy consuming boilers.A boiler scrappage scheme its good for the enviroment good for the pensioner and helps with the economy.
I am a layman with no expertise in this field but thats what I would be doing as a left wing councillor trying to help them not bleating on about it.Secondly its important for them ,the pensioners,to know how they fell into this fuel trap after a life time of hard work and taxpaying..its because the tories sold off the utilities companies in order to raise cash for their friends in the city.
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
6 November 2009
16:4732537Marek -
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
6 November 2009
17:1232539Marek I think its good that Sue is drawing attention to these things. As Sue says there is also a large feature in the Dover Express on this issue this week. I must admit I have not read the feature as of yet, will do, but it is important that these problems are highlighted.
"3,000 Dover Homes Suffer Fuel Poverty" says the headline. Its by our good friend Kathy Bailes and it seems Dover is about the worst in the whole of Kent or near as dammit.
There are various things available to the poor...not an expert myself on whats available but for example the winter fuel allowance is a great help for the older ones and so is the Loft Insulation. I believe loft insulation is FREE under a government scheme. I believe that to be the case for those on low income. And there are other benefits too. So if these poorer homes are made more aware of whats on offer by the feature written by Kathy as mentioned above, or by as much publicity as possible, well it will certainly help their case and might help to make them a bit warmer.
The Labour government have done quite a bit in this arena to ensure things get better.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
6 November 2009
18:0332542paul is spot on with the help with home insulation for the elderly and those on certain benefits.
the main problem is with the very elderly.
1) they may not have claimed for anything before and see it as a stigma.
2) the paperwork is frightening.
3) they simply do not know about it.
susan makes a good point about the large house thing with just one person living in it, too late in life for them to downsize, too many memories in the house.
6 November 2009
21:2032569Practically speaking those big houses for one elder may seem inappropriate, but what Howard says about memories is apt: our environment matters, and the sensory prompts that surround us are valuable. We have no right to take those away.
Guest 674- Registered: 25 Jun 2008
- Posts: 3,391
7 November 2009
09:4832580Just getting past whether or not a person who lives alone should live in a big house, if they do there are some govt grants for the elderly(dont fink they finished)
loft insulation ets was amongst them.
person does all the form filling,
is this project still going?
was a few months ago
