Energy costs are hitting the disabled hardest

04 Apr 2014
In today’s parliamentary questions for the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Diane Abbott MP criticised the government for failing to protect vulnerable groups, like the disabled, from spiraling energy costs. She pointed out that a London Assembly survey revealed that 74% of the disabled in London were cutting back on their heating because of high bills. In response to her question Ministers said that they were due to publish their Fuel poverty strategy.

Afterwards Abbott said: "The government has consistently ignored the needs of economically marginalised groups and the disproportionate impact that rising energy costs will have on them. They have sought to chip away at the already limited safety net that protects the most vulnerable in our society. With 91% of disabled people in London now saying they are worried about the cost of gas and electricity, it is critical that the government atone for these failures by shouldering the responsibility they have so far abandoned.”
 
--ENDS—                   

1. 95% of over-65s in London said that they were worried about the price of energy bills 
2. Three-quarters of BAME respondents to London Cost of Living Survey have sacrificed heating their homes in order to afford their bills.
3. 71% of disabled Londoner said their standard of living had gone down over the last 3 years and 74% said they expected theirs to go down over the next 3 years

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