Bolton MP David Crausby has backed Labour leader Ed Milliband’s proposed energy reforms as his constituents face a ‘serious cost of living crisis’.
The proposal made by Mr Milliband pledges to freeze energy bills until 2017 in light of the fact that the average household has had to fork out an extra £300 for gas and electricity bills since the start of the coalition government.
The Labour leader plans to use a 20 month freeze to drive costs down through increased competition and introduce a tough new regulator.
The move has brought praise from Mr Crausby, MP for Bolton North East.
“Families across my constituency are facing a serious cost of living crisis, with bills continuing to rise but wages falling behind.
“Energy bills are one of the biggest problems for both families and businesses; it’s time to give them a break.”
The freeze, which will save a typical household £120 and an average business £1,800, comes after a report found the average dual fuel power bill for hard-press families rose to £1,318.
The council’s Bolton Affordable Warmth Strategy report found a third of families ration fuel as soaring power prices force the ‘heat or eat’ dilemma.
The report also discovered that one in five of Bolton’s 114,319 households are fuel poor and 1,050 extra deaths in the region in the winter due to poorly heated homes – most of which affect the elderly.
Alex Malone, Project Manager of Farnworth and Kearsley Foodbank, who deliver emergency food parcels in Bolton’s most deprived area, urged caution on the policy.
“At our foodbank we do see people coming in who are living in ‘fuel poverty’, where they are living in cold, damp, and mouldy conditions which have a big impact on their health and living standards,” he said.
“Rising energy bills form part of the equation for some foodbank users, particularly when coupled with earnings that do not meet the ‘living wage’ and unfathomable pricing structures which mean that it is very difficult to make educated choices about providers, among other contributing factors.
“An energy price freeze would be a good thing for consumers whilst in effect.
“Basically it isn’t acceptable that people are living in such conditions, but I think it will take more than this to make any notable difference in the number of foodbank users.”
The problem was further compounded following the scrapping of the Carbon Emission Reduction Target (CERT) in December 2012; meaning customers now have to pay up to £2000 for cavity wall and loft insulation.
Currently, an Affordable Warmth Referral System – delivered by the council’s Home Improvement Agency, has assisted over 700 fuel poor residents in Bolton with grant aid for efficiency works in households and free advice.
Nationally, the Conservatives vehemently oppose the energy policy, with Prime Minister David Cameron describing it during Prime Minister’s Questions as ‘a gimmick not a policy’ and suggesting that Mr Milliband wanted to live in a ‘Marxist universe’.
Mr Milliband has also faced accusations of ‘attacking big business and market forces’ and increasing the chances of an ‘energy blackout’ from a number of MPs and energy companies.
However, Mr Crausby added: “Serious reform of the energy market is needed and this government have offered no solutions.
“Every year we hear stories of higher bills, followed by even higher profits for the energy companies.
“I am firmly behind plans to break the power of the big six companies and make sure that we have a regulator that can actually hold the industry to account.”
Image courtesy of Theo, with thanks
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