06 February 2004
Officials at the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs have indicated that a review of its anti-fuel poverty initiative is likely to reform the way cash is distributed to those most in need of winter support.
A report on Defra's Warm Front initiative by the Commons' Public Accounts Committee this week claimed that up to £100m of taxpayers' cash each year is spent upgrading the homes of people who are not 'fuel poor', while many of those in need go without support.
This figure represents two-thirds of the £150m Warm Front annual budget, much of which is spent on insulating and upgrading homes.
PAC chair Edward Leigh described the situation as 'ridiculous'. He said that it resulted from Defra's ineffective method of calculating eligibility, and added: 'It is time Defra targeted its efforts at those most in need and made a real impact.'
Eligibility is currently determined by whether an individual claims certain benefits, but MPs believe fuel poverty is a factor of personal income, fuel prices and the energy efficiency of homes.
However, a Defra spokeswoman told Public Finance that the initiative is already under review. 'All 700,000 beneficiaries of Warm Front since it was introduced in 2000 could be classified as vulnerable, even if they were not fuel poor. Our review will assess new ways of defining eligibility and the way our budget is distributed.'
The PAC report, Warm front, published on February 3, concluded that 'much of the public funding… does not help those most in need,' adding that 'a third or more "fuel poor" households are not eligible for grants'.
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