City's shame as one in four households is frozen out by fuel poverty

THE number of people in Glasgow who can't afford to heat their homes has rocketed in the last two years.

By Esther Bintliff

THE number of people in Glasgow who can't afford to heat their homes has rocketed in the last two years.

Figures obtained by the Evening Times under Freedom of Information legislation show that almost one in four households in the city - that's 64,000 - will struggle to heat their homes this winter.

Poor hit with heavy bills in pre-payment scandal

HOUSEHOLDS with pre-pay gas and electricity meters are paying hundreds of pounds a year more than those who pay for their energy by direct debit or online.

Energywatch, which represents the interests of consumers in Britain, accused energy firms of exploiting the poorest in society, many of whom are forced to use pre-pay meters (ppm).

They say that ppm users in Scotland are paying as much as £296 extra each year - and £214 on average - for their fuel because they are excluded from special deals available to others.

Jackie Baillie MSP, convener of the cross party parliamentary group on tackling debt, has joined with energywatch to condemn the ppm penalty and has put a motion before the Scottish Parliament.

Ms Baillie said: "It is simply scandalous that companies are cashing in by taking advantage of their poorest consumers.

"Ofgem should not be allowing this to happen."

The poorest customers are often forced to use pre-payment meters because they have no access to other payment methods, such as direct debit or through the internet.

In the last year more than 366,000 prepayment meters (63% of the total installed in the year) were put in by firms to recover energy debt - effectively barring consumers from switching to cheaper suppliers and payment methods.

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The World Health Organisation recommends homes should be heated to 21C in the living room, and 18C in other rooms, for nine hours a day.

Illnesses like flu, heart disease and strokes are all made worse by cold living conditions. Cold homes can also encourage fungi and dust mites, which in turn are linked to asthma.

In 2002, research showed 13% of homes in Glasgow had no central heating, while 11% had only partial central heating.

Around 2000 more pensioners die in winter months than at other times of the year, according to the General Registrar Office for Scotland.

According to the last census (2001), the Glasgow ward with the largest number of private households without central heating is Strathbungo, with 1360 households, following by Langside at 822, Hayburn at 820, Battlefield at 817 and Mount Florida at 752.

The figures come two years after Glasgow City Council and the then Labour-led Scottish Executive promised to eradicate fuel poverty, as far as reasonably practicable, by 2016.

Fuel poverty is defined as people who have to spend more than 10% of income on heating costs.

The figures also reveal the council has failed to meet its interim target - which was to cut the number of affected households to 9.8% by 2006.

Instead, by its own estimate, it has risen from 18% in 2005 to 23% today.

In 2005, council leader Steven Purcell said fuel poverty was "a scourge that needs to be removed. We need to be seen as the city that eliminated it."

Today, Bill Aitken, Tory MSP for Glasgow, said: "The new figures are disappointing and the council needs to apply much greater effort to sorting the problem out.

"On the present figure it is going to fail miserably to achieve its target, with all the misery that entails."

Fuel poverty hits the most vulnerable hardest - pensioners, single parents and those on a low income are at risk.

Not being able to heat their homes properly exacerbates health problems, such as pneumonia, heart disease and bronchitis.

People often resort to rationing their heating to an hour a day or seek warmth in publicly heated spaces, such as shopping centres, or they cut their spending on other vital costs, such as food.

Last year, there were 22,300 more deaths of older people over the winter in Britain than during the rest of the year.

David Mannion, chief executive of Age Concern Scotland, said: "We are facing what is likely to be a much colder winter, which means a far greater potential for cold-related deaths. Something needs to be done urgently."

But council housing officers say the latest increase in Glasgow's fuel poverty is due to price increases nationwide.

A spokesman said: "The main driver of fuel poverty is the cost of energy, which the council has no control over.

"Since 2003, annual gas bills have risen 70% and electricity 50%. The bulk of these rises happened in 2006.

"There is no indication prices will reduce in the immediate future and much of the good work being done by the council and a range of other agencies in the city has to be seen in this context."

A council housing worker, who wished to remain anonymous, suggested the council's 2005 targets were over-ambitious.

He said: "Back then you had a totally different climate for fuel prices - they were at their lowest and there was a degree of optimism.

"The general view now is there is no chance we will reach the original targets."

Glasgow is particularly vulnerable to fuel poverty because of its multiple deprivation, coupled with its aging housing stock.

Around 65,000 properties were built before 1919, many of which are difficult to insulate.

Glasgow homes are also less likely to have central heating and more likely to have single glazing than anywhere else in Scotland.

The council has invested millions of pounds into tackling fuel poverty since 2002.

A council-funded helpline, Are You Cold?, which is operated by West of Scotland Seniors Forum, received more than 2000 calls last year.

A volunteer said: "We get a lot of calls from people who are scared they won't make it through the winter."

Fuel poverty has got progressively worse across Scotland since 2002, when it affected just 13% of the population.

By 2004, it was 15% and by 2005 it was 18%, equal to 419,000 households.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: "We remain committed to the 2016 target. Our central heating and Warm Deal programmes have allowed many thousands to benefit from warmer, better-insulated and more energy efficient homes.

"However, fuel poverty is a complex issue and many of the levers that affect it, such as fuel prices, are outside the control of the Scottish Parliament."

Communities Minister Stewart Maxwell will meet the chief executives of three energy firms over the next few weeks to discuss ways to alleviate fuel poverty.