Tuesday 15 September 2009

Age Sector Platform (ASP) has welcomed announcements made during the last week regarding reductions in gas and electricity prices, but claims that more needs to be done to ensure vulnerable households are protected from hikes in energy costs.

One of the partners involved in the ‘Can’t Heat or Eat’ campaign last winter, ASP represents 200,000 older people across Northern Ireland, and believes social tariffs are needed to reduce the levels of fuel poverty in Northern Ireland.

ASP energy spokesperson, Francis Hughes, commented: “Energy issues are high on the agenda for me and many other older people in Northern Ireland.  Last year we witnessed unprecedented increases in energy prices, which was of significant worry to the older population.  Concerns over how to heat our homes have not disappeared - particularly when we are now approaching the winter months yet again.”  

Mr Hughes continued: “A reasonable and possible way of addressing this issue is through the introduction of social tariffs.  Social tariffs are the lowest possible tariffs offered by energy suppliers to vulnerable or low income groups.  They offer protection that is currently unavailable here, although they have been in operation in Great Britain since 2004.  Households in the rest of the UK have also benefited from competition in the energy market since the 1990’s; making domestic energy bills a lot less than here in Northern Ireland.”

“The introduction of social tariffs has gained support amongst consumers and fuel poverty activists, as a means of helping the most vulnerable members of our society.  Research conducted in 2008 showed strong support for the concept of social tariffs amongst consumers in particular, with nearly everyone surveyed (97%) agreeing that both older people and the disabled or chronically sick should receive help from gas and electricity suppliers if they are having difficulty paying their bills1.”

“We need to see a clear commitment by Government and energy suppliers to introduce social tariff schemes in NI as soon as possible so that older people and other vulnerable groups can heat their homes properly, without the fear of a sky-high bill landing on their mat.”

Age Sector Platform will continue to campaign for the introduction of social tariffs in Northern Ireland, to ensure that those suffering from fuel poverty are not left out in the cold by energy suppliers.

1 Research conducted by the Consumer Council and the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation (2008)