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Introduction

Fuel poverty exists where a combination of poor housing conditions and low income means that a household cannot afford sufficient warmth for health and comfort. The widely accepted definition of fuel poverty is where as household needs to spend 10% or more of its income on fuel to maintain a satisfactory heating regime (usually 21°C for the main living area and 18°C for other occupied rooms). Such fuel poverty is caused by the interaction of a number of factors but of particular importance are the energy efficiency status of the property (e.g. the adequacy of thermal insulation and its heating systems), the cost of energy and household income. Clearly those households in the lower income brackets are more susceptible to fuel poverty as they are likely to pay a greater proportion of their income on fuel and keeping warm. For example, figures from the 2004/05 Expenditure & Food Survey indicated that the average share of income of fuel and power for the lowest three income deciles was 5.5%, compared with just 1.3% for those in the highest three income deciles.

The ability to target households suffering from fuel poverty is central to the Government's Fuel Poverty Strategy and to meet this need a new fuel poverty indicator (FPI) to predict the incidence of fuel poverty in small areas across England has been developed by the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) and University of Bristol, funded by the DTI and others. Using data on property and housing conditions to predict the risk of fuel poverty for different household types the statistical model was applied to data from the 2001 Census to provide a fuel poverty estimate for individual geographical areas for all Census geographies. Full data for all regions within England at Lower Super Output areas (LSOAs) are available from the CSE Fuel Poverty Indicator website. Lancashire specific data at this level can also be obtained from the Lancashire Profile Data Download Centre.

Lancashire Results

Across England the Centre for Sustainable Energy estimated that in 2003 nearly 1.3m households, or 6.1% of all households were in a state of fuel poverty in that they spent 10% or more of their income on fuel. The equivalent share in the Lancashire sub-region was 6.7% (39,300 households). Across local districts the variation was not large, ranging from a "high" of 7.4% of households in fuel poverty in Blackburn with Darwen to 5.9% in South Ribble (Table 1). South Ribble and Fylde were the only two Lancashire districts to have fuel poverty household shares below the England average. It should be emphasised that with the rise in fuel prices since 2003, it is likely that the number and proportion of households experiencing fuel poverty are likely to have risen very substantially. This needs to be taken into account when interpreting the Fuel Poverty Index scores for individual areas, though the index is still likely to provide a useful guide to the relative differences between individual areas.

Figure 1 Fuel Poverty Indicator 2003 by Lower-Layer Super Output Areas

Source Centre for Sustainable Energy - Fuel Poverty Indicator website

The geographical distribution of fuel poverty across the Lancashire sub-region at Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs) is illustrated in Figure 1. Table 1 details the top and bottom placed local LSOAs cording to both their relative ranking within Lancashire and their overall ranking across England. As a further aid to visualisation, Figures 2 and 3 have recast the Fuel Poverty Indicators in terms of the higher order Middle Layer Output Areas (MSOAs) and district wards respectively.

Across England LSOAs with both the greatest and least proportions of households experiencing fuel poverty are to be found in the London Boroughs within a range that extends from 25.8% of households in the Westminster ward of West End to just 3.3% of households in the Cripplegate ward of the City of London. Outside of London, the highest ranked LSOA with a fuel poverty index of 11.2% was to be found in Lancashire – specifically within the Daneshouse with Stoneyholme ward of Burnley. The severity of fuel poverty in Daneshouse with Stoneyholme is emphasised by the fact that all of the four LSOAs that comprise this particular ward ranked within the poorest 0.2% in England for fuel poverty.

As in the case of many of the official measures of deprivation, Lancashire has well above its expected share of areas suffering from fuel poverty. Thus, within a national context Lancashire has no less than 30 individual LSOAs (or 3.2% of all its LSOAs) that rank amongst the poorest 1% for fuel poverty in England and 127 LSOAs (or 13.5% of its LSOAs) that rank within the poorest 5% in England. At the other extreme, only three Lancashire LSOAs are (just) within the top decile (10%) for low rates of fuel poverty.

Figure 2 Fuel Poverty Indicator 2003 by Middle-Layer Super Output Areas

Source Centre for Sustainable Energy - Fuel Poverty Indicator website

Figure 3 Fuel Poverty Indicator 2003 by Wards

Source Centre for Sustainable Energy - Fuel Poverty Indicator website

In the main, areas that rank highly on the fuel poverty index are to be found within the larger urban centres, most especially in Accrington, Blackburn, Blackpool, Burnley, Colne, Nelson and Preston but with smaller pockets elsewhere. The unusually poor condition of much of the housing in several of these areas is an important consideration and this is frequently allied with relatively low-income levels. A handful of rural LSOAs, particularly in the more remote rural areas also face some degree of fuel poverty though this is far less concentrated than within the urban areas proper. Not unexpectedly, fuel poverty rates tend to be lowest in the more prosperous suburban and rural/dormitory areas, particularly where above-average income levels coincide with locations of relatively modern (and more energy efficiency) housing developments. LSOAs in Chorley and South Ribble are particularly notable in this respect.

Note on the Data

Four definitions of fuel poverty have been used by the CSE for the fuel poverty indicator, each of which are included in the Data Download Centre:

1. Full Income: a household is in fuel poverty if, in order to maintain a satisfactory heating regime and cover other normal fuel costs, it would be required to spend more than 10% of its income on all household fuel use. 'Income' by this definition includes Housing Benefit, Income Support for mortgage interest and Council Tax Benefit.
2. Basic Income: as above except that Housing Benefit, Income Support for mortgage interest and Council Tax Benefit are not included as income.
3. Full Income Equivalised: as (1) except that incomes are adjusted for household size and composition.
4. Basic Income Equivalised: as (2) except that incomes are adjusted for household size and composition.

Please note that the maps and analysis in this research monitor correspond to definition 1, the Government's official definition of fuel poverty.

For further details, please contact:
Peter Kivell
Tel 01772 534157
Email Peter.Kivell@lancashire.gov.uk