Backing for greener, warmer housing welcomed (Greenwich Borough Liberal Democrats)

Greenwich Borough Liberal Democrats <mail@greenwich-libdems.org.uk>

Backing for greener, warmer housing welcomed

March 5, 2007 8:00 AM

Liberal Democrats in Greenwich were in Harrogate for the Liberal Democrats' conference last weekend to back a move to make housing in Greenwich warmer, greener and more affordable.

The Liberal Democrat plans that were debated on Sunday (March 4th) would:

• Help lift pensioners and disabled people out of fuel poverty;

• Cut the number of excess winter deaths in London;

• Make it easier for families to insulate their homes and cut fuel bills;

• Aim to more than halve the amount of polluting carbon emissions produced by homes in Greenwich.

A recent government study found 119,000 households living in fuel poverty in London, 4% of all households in the region. Government statisticians have calculated that, across London, there were 2,600 excess winter deaths, of whom 2,300 were pensioners.

Local Liberal Democrats are backing proposals that would see fuel bills for local people fall dramatically and carbon emissions from homes cut by over half by 2050.

Greenwich Liberal Democrat vice-chair, Neil Stockley, said,

"Making Greenwich a greener, cheaper and more sustainable community must be a top priority.

"This is why I and my Liberal Democrat colleagues voted in favour of these plans to cut carbon emissions from homes by more than half. This would save families here in Greenwich a lot of money currently being poured into the gas and electricity companies' pockets."

Commenting on the specific proposals, Neil Stockley said,

"Many people in Greenwich can't afford to heat their homes properly. It's disgraceful that pensioners can't afford to heat their homes.

"I want to see help targeted to enable older people and those with disabilities to increase the energy efficiency of their homes and reduce their fuel bills.

"Standardised packages including a range of insulation, draught-proofing and window, heating and light replacement would help improve the energy efficiency of all homes in Greenwich

"It should be simple maths: less energy wasted equals lower fuel bills, fewer excess winter deaths, less pollution and a greener Greenwich."

Notes:

Liberal Democrats debated the motion on sustainable housing at the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference in Harrogate on Sunday 4th March. This motion can be read in full on the Liberal Democrat website (www.libdems.org.uk/conference/conferenceagenda.html).

Excess winter deaths figures are from Office of National Statistics website (www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D7089.xls). Excess winter deaths are defined by the ONS as the difference between the number of deaths during the four winter months (December to March) and the average number of deaths during the preceding autumn (August to November) and the following summer (April to July). Figures are described as provisional, rounded to the nearest 100.

Fuel poverty figures are from Detailed Breakdowns of Fuel Poverty in England in 2004 (version 1, April 2006) obtained from DTI website (www.dti.gov.uk/files/file29687.pdf - see 11th page of document (labelled as page 8)).