Stunell reveals plans for greener, warmer homes

10.46.56am UTC (GMT +0000) Sun 4th Mar 2007

Andrew Stunell MP & Cllr Linda Seekings of Crawley

Today at the Lib Dem Spring Conference, MP Andrew Stunell revealed ground-breaking plans to make housing warmer, greener and more affordable.

Commenting on his plans, Mr Stunell said "My plans would cut carbon emissions from homes by more than half. This would save families a lot of money currently being poured into the gas and electricity companies' pockets. Many people can't afford to heat their homes properly. It is disgraceful that each year thousands die in this country because they can't afford to heat their homes."

Northgate Councillor Linda Seekings said "I'm pleased that Andrew is putting forward this interesting and far reaching scheme. If introduced it will help many residents in Crawley. It will target help to enable older people and those with disabilities to increase the energy efficiency of their homes and reduce their fuel bills. Standardised packages could include insulation, draught-proofing and window, heating and light replacement to help improve the energy efficiency of all homes."

Andrew concluded by saying "It's simple maths: less energy wasted equals lower fuel bills, fewer excess winter deaths, less pollution and a greener country."

Notes:

1. Excess winter deaths figures are from Office of National Statistics website (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D7089.xls).

2. Fuel poverty figures are from Detailed Breakdowns of Fuel Poverty in England in 2004 (version 1, April 2006) obtained from DTI website (http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file29687.pdf - see 11th page of document (labelled as page 8)).