To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many (a) people and (b) households in each parliamentary constituency were in fuel poverty in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. (174301)

Fuel poverty is defined on a household basis and as such the number of people in fuel poverty is not available.

Regional estimates of fuel poverty are available only for England in 2003 and are taken from the fuel poverty indicator (FPI) dataset, available online at:

http://www.fuelpovertyindicator.org.uk/

It is important to note that the FPI only predicts the level of fuel poverty in individual areas. It cannot take into account local circumstances. As with all small area indicators, it is important to use local knowledge and data to complement the FPI when developing local fuel poverty programmes. A table showing the approximate levels of fuel poverty in 2003 for each constituency has been placed in the Libraries of the House.