Tackling Fuel Poverty

Phil has highlighted the far-reaching effects of fuel poverty, and has called for practical steps to be taken to tackle the three leading causes in a speech in Westminster on Tuesday 24 November 2015.

40% of households in Scotland are considered to be in fuel poverty.

In his speech, Phil noted the negative impact fuel poverty has on health and educational attainment for children, including recent findings that adolescents living in cold homes are five times more likely to have multiple mental health problems than adolescents living in warm homes, and that children living in cold homes are twice as likely to have respiratory problems than those living in warm problems.

Fuel poverty is a result of three major factors- low household income, fuel costs, and the poor energy efficiency of homes.

Phil criticised the UK Government’s decision earlier this year to cut programmes designed to help households make their homes more energy efficient, such as the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund, solar subsidies, and feed-in tariffs.

Commenting on the scope of impact fuel poverty has on every aspect of life, Phil said:

 

“The combination of mental and physical health problems, poor diet, emotional turmoil and diminished educational attainment caused by fuel poverty is a recipe for condemning people to the dreadful cycle of poverty. In essence, they are poor and paying for it.”

Phil called for a fair deal for energy consumers to address rising fuel costs. Commenting on the energy market, Phil said:

 

“The energy market is dominated by the big six, and the days of standing by while they address their needs over those of consumers and make massive profits while so many suffer from fuel poverty must come to an end.”

Phil further noted the ways in which the UK Government could take practical measures to address low pay, stating:

“A living wage for everyone in work, not those just over the age of 25, would allow young individuals and families to afford the rising costs of fuel.”

The full speech can be viewed below:

Tory Government fails to respond to concerns from Phil that the DWP has been encouraging individuals to take on high-interest debt in order to pay for funeral costs

Phil, in a debate in Westminster on 13 October 2015, has called for an investigation into Department of Work and Pensions procedure after reports have emerged that Jobcentre staff have actively been encouraging individuals to take on debt in order to pay for rising funeral costs.

Commenting on this discrepancy between rising costs and stagnating income in Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill, Phil noted that:

 “According to Citizens Advice, the total cost of a funeral for people living in our constituency falls somewhere between £2,500 and £8,000. As more than half the households in [North] Lanarkshire have an annual household income of less than £20,000, the cost of a funeral in our constituency can represent more than one third of household income for many.”

Recent reports have found that 47% of individuals are forced to take out high-interest credit card debt or short-term loans to be able to pay for the cost of the funeral. This type of high-interest debt is a substantial contributing factor to the rising incidence of in-work poverty.

Commenting on the issue of funeral poverty, Phil said:

“With funeral costs rapidly rising, wages remaining stagnant, and employment remaining insecure, funeral poverty is becoming a real concern not just for those most disadvantaged, but also for everyday working individuals and families. While funeral costs have risen 80 percent since 2005, real wages for the typical worker in the UK have fallen by 10 percent since 2008. Job insecurity has remained high in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, despite claims by the current government that their policies have created new, high-quality employment opportunities. The factors that contribute to in-work poverty, such as insecure employment, zero-hours contracts, low wages, and Tory-imposed cuts to child tax credits, also contribute to funeral poverty”.

Not only are more families finding themselves forced to take on high-interest debt in order to pay for a funeral, according to findings published in The Guardian, Jobcentre staff have been actively encouraging individuals to take on debt in order to pay for funeral costs.

Commenting on this finding, Phil said during the debate:

“The fact that [Jobcentre staff] have done so when individuals have approached them at a time of desperation and emotional turmoil after the loss of a loved one is morally reprehensible and frankly unacceptable. Although the reports do not specify whether encouraging individuals to incur high-interest debt to cover the costs of a funeral is an official Department for Work and Pensions internal policy, I hope that this debate will encourage the DWP to tackle that emerging pattern, and I would appreciate a ministerial response on that particular concern.”

Phil did not receive a response from the Tory Government Minister regarding his concerns that the DWP has been encouraging individuals to take on high-interest debt in order to pay for the cost of a funeral.