To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2009, Official Report, column 1481W, on fuel poverty, what the reasons are for the relatively high number of fuel poor households in the North West; and whether his Department has any region-specific programmes in place to rectify the situation. (278049)

[holding answer 11 June 2009]: In 2006, the latest year for which fuel poverty estimates are available, 14.2 per cent. of households in the north-west were fuel poor. In England as a whole, in the same period, 11.5 per cent. of all households were fuel poor. Table 1 refers.

Fuel poverty is caused by the interaction of three things: income, fuel prices and energy efficiency. Therefore, households with low income or very high energy bills are more prone to being fuel poor. In 2006, average household income for households in the north-west was below that of England as a whole, while the average energy efficiency rating, as measured by SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure) was similar to that for England overall.

The combination of national programmes such as Warm Front, Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) and Decent Homes and local programmes and delivery through local government, partnerships, energy suppliers, Eaga and NEA (such as Warm Zones and the Central Energy Efficiency Fund (CEEF) are all important in tackling fuel poverty across England. Government do not direct programmes to specific areas but the Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP) programme to be launched this autumn is proposed to take place in areas of the lowest income decile as measured in the Indices of Multiple Deprivation.