EXCESS PROFITS AND DECLINING VALUE OF WINTER FUEL PAYMENTS LEAVE PENSIONERS IN THE COLD

4.18.00pm GMT Fri 22nd Feb 2008

Gas prices are rising - as are profits of gas companies.

At the same time that British Gas' parent company Centrica has reported a 40% rise in operating profits to £1.95bn, and as the Winter Fuel Payment now only pays for a quarter of pensioners' fuel bills, many pensioners in Herefordshire are struggling to pay their fuel bills. Liberal Democrats are demanding action to ensure that such excess profit is handed back to the most needy through lower energy bills.

Sarah Carr, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Hereford and South Herefordshire said,

"Across the UK, 25,000 people are predicted to die in the cold this winter. The government must tackle rising fuel poverty and these excess profits from energy companies by returning lower prices to customers. As the cost of heating homes has rocketed, many older people in Herefordshire cannot afford to afford to heat their homes properly. At the same time the value of the state pension has dropped and the winter fuel payment has remained the same for five years. These issues must be tackled. The Liberal Democrats would restore the earnings link to pensions to ensure older people would be better off."

Liberal Democrat figures show that the Winter Fuel Payment now only pays for a quarter of a pensioner's fuel bills. While the amount of the Winter Fuel Payment has been frozen at £200 for five years, fuel bills and the profits of energy companies have both risen. This has resulted in the value of the Payments halving.