To ask Her Majesty's Government with regard to page 10 of their response to the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee report on Energy Efficiency and Fuel Poverty of October 2009, how many fuel poor and vulnerable households there are; how many other households there are; and whether a rising block tariff scheme will cater equally for each sector. [HL2412]

The latest household statistics for England show that, in 2007, there were about:

2.8 million fuel-poor households;

15.6 million vulnerable households;

2.3 million vulnerable fuel-poor households; and

21.4 million households.

The available evidence suggests that fuel-poor households typically have higher energy requirements due to the type of homes in which they reside (ie they tend to be less energy efficient) and due to particular characteristics of their lives (eg elderly consumers who are more likely to heat their home for longer each day). This suggests that a rising block tariff would make it more expensive for many fuel-poor households to heat their homes to an acceptable standard and may, therefore, make it more difficult to remove these households from fuel poverty.