CAROLINE DINENAGE
Member of Parliament
for the Gosport Constituency
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PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE
6th December 2011
CAROLINE TO HOST ENERGY ADVICE SURGERY
Caroline Dinenage, MP for Gosport, will be running a special energy advice event open to all members of the public on Friday 16 December 2011.
The surgery will be held as part of the Warm Homes Campaign, run by the fuel poverty charity National Energy Action, with support from E.ON, British Gas and other leading organisations. Visitors to the drop-in event will receive a host of energy saving material as well as practical help and support for those concerned about their energy bills this winter.
Speaking about the importance of this issue, Caroline said: "There are still millions of people struggling to keep their homes warm and protect their families from the cold. This problem is one that affects thousands of vulnerable people within Gosport and I would encourage anyone concerned about their energy bills, or who is looking for free expert advice on how to better insulate their homes to take advantage of this specialist surgery.
The event will run from 10 am - 12 noon on Friday 16 December at Caroline's constituency office at 167 Stoke Road, Gosport, Hampshire, PO12 1SE and is open to all.
Ends
Editors notes:
- NEA is the UK's leading fuel poverty charity campaigning for affordable warmth in the homes of vulnerable people. For further details visit http://www.nea.org.uk
- The Many Faces of Fuel Poverty - A real-life perspective on the causes and effects of fuel poverty and how this can be tackled is attached to this release and available at http://www.nea.org.uk/warm-homes-campagin-2011-the-many-faces-of-fuel-poverty/
- NEA has also made available today its response to Professor Hill's interim report and consultation which has been commissioned by Government on its fuel poverty strategy.
- This year NEA marks a 30 year milestone in campaigning for warm homes. Since its inception in 1981 NEA has championed energy efficiency as the most sustainable means of tackling fuel poverty.
- The NEA and Warm Homes Campaign 2011 press pack is available on the NEA Website. http://www.nea.org.uk/warm-homes-campaign/
- Warm Homes Campaign is a national campaign organised by fuel poverty charities National Energy Action (NEA) and is sponsored in 2011 by E.ON.
- The campaign will run from 24th November to the 9th December.
- Warm Homes Campaign is a national initiative that aims to highlight the issue of fuel poverty among decision-makers, point to good work being done to tackle the problem at a community level and direct those in or at risk of Fuel Poverty by highlighting where they can get help and advice.
- The Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000 introduced a duty on the Secretary of State to publish and implement a strategy to end fuel poverty within a specified date and not later than 2016.
- The UK Fuel Poverty Strategy defines a fuel-poor household as one needing to spend more than 10% of household income to achieve a satisfactory and healthy heating regime
- Fuel poverty results from a combination of factors: low household income; unaffordable energy prices; and inadequate heating and insulation standards. The consequences of fuel poverty range from psychological distress, social isolation and physical discomfort to causing or exacerbating serious illness and, in the most extreme cases, to premature death.
- The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in June 2011, put the total number of households living in fuel poverty in the UK at 5.5 million in 2009. This represented an increase of 1 million households over the estimates for 2008 and comprises approximately 21% of all UK households. Energy price increases this summer have had a dramatic effect on the number of households living in fuel poverty, increasing the numbers of households by over 1.2 million. NEA now estimates that over 6.6 million UK households now suffer the misery of living in fuel poverty.
- E.ON is one of the UK's leading power and gas companies - generating electricity, and retailing power and gas - and is part of the E.ON group, one of the world's largest investor-owned power and gas companies. E.ON employs around 12,000 people in the UK and more than 79,000 worldwide.
- In the UK, E.ON supplies power and gas to over five million domestic, small and medium-sized enterprise and industrial customers. E.ON also offers innovative energy services and technologies tailored to meet its customers' needs, and is helping customers become energy fit by encouraging them to insulate their homes, moderate their energy usage and even generate their own power
- Community Energy Fit is a project run by NEA and E.ON, that will provide energy efficiency training and mentoring for unemployed people to enable them to assist members of their community that may be in fuel poverty. For further information visit http://www.nea.org.uk/community-energy-fit
For details on the Warm Homes Campaign and MPs' activities around the country, contact Lesley Tudor-Snodin, NEA Press Officer, on 0191 261 5677 or LTS@nea.org.uk. Out of hours contact Peter Smith, NEA - 07595780893.