To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) households and (b) pensioner households he estimates are in fuel poverty in York; how many there were in York in 1996-97; and if he will make a statement. (230255)

I have been asked to reply.

The most recent year for which sub-national estimates of fuel poverty are available is 2003. The data for fuel poverty levels for 2003 come from the Fuel Poverty Indicator dataset, available online at

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

In 2003, there were around 4,600 households in the local authority of York living in fuel poverty (6 per cent. of all households). The data are not split by type of household.

There is no consistent source of data available for sub-regional estimates of fuel poverty for 1996-97.