To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many households in settlements with a population of 10,000 or less in England were in fuel poverty in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. (183519)

The National Statistics Definition of rurality states that an area is defined as urban if it has a population greater than 10,000. Areas with a population of less than 10,000 are divided into “Town and fringe” and “Village, hamlet or isolated dwelling”. A breakdown of fuel poverty at this level is available in the “Fuel Poverty 2005—Detailed Tables” (http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file42705.pdf). This shows that in 2005 there were approximately 288,000 fuel poor households in a “Village, hamlet or isolated dwelling” and 146,000 fuel poor households defined as being part of a “Town and fringe”. This totals to approximately 434,000 households in fuel poverty in settlements of less than 10,000.