A joint report by charities National Energy Action (NEA) and Energy Action Scotland (EAS) published on Tuesday 18 September has examined the impact of last winter’s severe cold weather.
Using ONS data, it highlighted that preventable deaths across the UK surged to 37,020 for the whole 2017-18 winter, compared to a five-year average of 32,200. It added that thousands of vulnerable households were left without support due to poor planning and lack of resources. Recommendations included additional government support for affordable warmth programmes, for comprehensive national Cold Weather Plans to be implemented across the UK and for energy suppliers and local authorities to improve access to emergency credit and crisis loans.