[UK] Gas rises will draw 1m into fuel poverty trap, warns minister

from The Scotsman

GERRI PEEV

ROCKETING gas prices will force one million more people into fuel poverty, doubling the numbers living on the breadline, a Cabinet minister warned yesterday.

As British Gas signalled that billpayers would face substantial price rises, Alan Johnson, the Trade and Industry Secretary, made clear that the government would have to do more to help the poorest.

"We have taken 4.1 million people out of fuel poverty, but because the definition of it is expending 10 per cent or more of your income, when fuel prices rise, prices are bound to bring more people into poverty," he told the Commons trade and industry committee.

He added that a figure of an additional one million "is not unrealistic" - which is double the current number of people who are forced to decide between food and fuel.

One of the most "worrying" effects of gas price rises was the "slip" in the numbers being lifted out of fuel poverty, he added.

Mr Johnson also said that consumers should shop around, pointing out that they could save nearly £70 by switching supplier.

But adequate help would need to be given to the poorest, and "that is what we are committed to", he added - a broad hint that there could be higher winter fuel payments unveiled in the Budget.

It emerged this weekend that British Gas is planning to raise prices by a reported 25 per cent.

Mr Johnson said domestic users had enjoyed "historically low" bills, but the increases in wholesale gas prices would trigger a rise.