The Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Nearly 8.8 million people in the UK spent this winter living in Dickensian conditions, exposing families to the adverse health effects of damp and mould in cold homes they cannot afford to heat.
The fact is that UK households have now faced their fourth winter of eye-watering energy bills. Following the April price cap rise, households will be paying 77% more than they did at the start of the energy crisis.
As a result of these high prices, fuel poor households are forced to use dangerously low amounts of energy during cold snaps and it is costing the NHS over £500 million every year.
Cold homes can both cause and worsen respiratory conditions, with children in cold homes twice as likely to develop respiratory illnesses. They can also cause and worsen cardiovascular diseases, poor mental health, dementia and hypothermia (Institute of Health Equity & IHE / Friends of the Earth) as well as cause and slow recovery from injury (PHE).
Poorly insulated homes also impact people’s physical health by causing higher levels of inflammation, measured by fibrinogen, a blood-based biomarker. Elevated fibrinogen levels have been strongly linked to higher risk of coronary heart disease, heart attacks, stroke and an increased risk of death (UEA). And all of this is in addition to the negative health impacts with existing disabilities or mental health problems. Furthermore, children living in cold homes have worse outcomes, including lower school attainment, increased truancy and higher rates of bullying (Institute of Health Equity).
We wholeheartedly support government action to ramp up homegrown renewable energy, which will provide long term price stability and energy security. But it will take time to deliver and people simply can’t wait that long.
Currently, our heat-leaking homes are damp, cold and expensive to heat. In fact, the UK has some of the worst insulated homes in Europe; for every one unit of heat a German home loses, the UK equivalent loses three. This means we’re wasting a shocking amount of energy and money as heat escapes through our walls, roofs, floors and windows. The same people who suffer from damp, mouldy homes in winter are stifled in summer when the sun comes out.
The Government was elected on a promise to bring down the average household energy bills by £300. The UK has no control over international gas prices, nor is it possible to predict where they will go in the course of this Parliament. The surest way to deliver on this pledge, reduce energy costs for consumers and maximise health benefits is to ensure homes are properly insulated and ventilated. It would also reduce pressure on the NHS and bring down new cases of childhood asthma by 650,000.
We the undersigned are calling on this Government to affirm its election promise to cut our energy bills by providing at least £13.2 billion towards the Warm Homes Plan in the Comprehensive Spending Review. Starting with the worst affected homes first, this Plan will help to bring our substandard homes up to scratch. When coupled with reforms to the Future Homes Standard, it will ensure that all new homes meet minimum energy efficiency standards irrespective of when the work started.
Medact
UK Health Alliance on Climate Change
Warm This Winter
End Fuel Poverty Coalition
Faculty of Public Health
Institute of Health Equity
The Royal College of General Practitioners
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
British and Irish Association of Stroke Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
Epilepsy Action
Carers Trust
Disability Rights UK
The Disability Poverty Campaign Group
Plant-Based Health Professionals UK
The Planetary Health Report Card
Health Equity North
ACORN
Greener Practice CIC
