Fuel Poverty Indicator
Fuel Poverty Indicator
Predicting levels of fuel poverty with a powerful new tool
The Government’s objective of eliminating fuel poverty in England by 2016 depends on many factors, not least the ability to accurately and efficiency target households where fuel poverty is most likely to be found.
To this end, the Centre for Sustainable Energy, in partnership with the University of Bristol, developed an on-line tool – known as the Fuel Poverty Indicator (FPI) - to predict the incidence of fuel poverty in each electoral ward in England.
Launched in 2003, it was designed to help a range of professionals whose efforts are central to the eradication of fuel poverty: policy-makers, local authority officers, specific staff within the energy utilities, energy efficiency advisers, health professionals and others in the energy and health sectors.
For these groups, the benefit of the Fuel Poverty Indicator is that it helps focus their efforts and resources on small areas where the need is greatest, thus avoiding a costly and inefficient ‘scatter-gun’ approach.
The Fuel Poverty Indicator works by combining data from three sources: the 2001 Census, the 2003 English House Condition Survey (EHCS); and the national property database, RESIDATA.
It uses this data to draw up a series of maps and showing the incidence of fuel poverty at ‘Lower Super Output Area’ level – geographical units of varying size but which typically contain about 400 households.
The areas in dark red show a higher risk of fuel poverty
The map of Somerset (above) shows how this works, with areas of lower fuel poverty in blue such as Weston-super-Mare (top), Frome (right), Yeovil (bottom) and Taunton (left). Western Somerset which is largely off the gas network and contains many solid-walled 'hard to heat' homes shows up in dark red indicating a higher rate of fuel poverty.
A dedicated website - www.fuelpovertyindicator.org.uk – has been visited by thousands of people since launching in 2003.
In sum, the FPI is a versatile and powerful tool that can be used for the following:
- Informing the targeting of fuel poverty programmes
- Informing the development of local affordable-warmth strategies
- Raising awareness of fuel poverty as an issue for concern
- Supporting funding bids for projects to combat fuel poverty
- Helping make sure grant programmes and other fuel poverty resources are reaching areas with high levels of fuel poverty
- Informing research, e.g. exploring the relationship between fuel poverty and health inequalities, other health indicators and deprivation indicators.
CSE can also provide a bespoke service for interested parties, e.g.
- Maps and data of the FPI at Output Area level for particular areas
- Maps and data on fuel poverty using alternative definitions of fuel poverty (e.g. using an ‘after housing costs’ definition of income)
- Interpretation of the distribution of fuel poverty within a particular area and its implications for the planning and delivery of fuel poverty programmes/strategies.