|
OLDER PEOPLE ACCUSE GOVERNMENT OF LET-DOWN ON FUEL POVERTY
74% of older
people in the North West think the Government is not doing enough to
help people with the rising cost of fuel bills, according to new
research launched by Help the Aged and Friends of the Earth.
The research was published on the same day the Government is being hauled
before a High Court judge to defend its failure to lift vulnerable
people out of fuel poverty. The judicial review is being brought by
the 2 charities in the only case of its kind examining fuel poverty
policy.
Although the Government is legally bound to do all that is
reasonably possible to eradicate fuel poverty for vulnerable
households by 2010 and for all households by 2016, 5 million
households in the United Kingdom will struggle to heat and power
their homes this winter. Despite the announcement of recent
Government measures designed to combat the problem, the equivalent
of nearly a million older people in the North West think the
Government is failing.
This overwhelming public opinion supports the views of Friends of
the Earth and Help the Aged who are arguing that the Government has
broken the law by not doing everything reasonably practicable to
meet its fuel poverty targets. The charities have filed for a
judicial review (the legal procedure used to challenge public
authorities) and hope that the High Court will order the Government
to fulfil its legal commitment.
The case will highlight:-
· Government failure to provide a comprehensive and costed plan of
action for meeting its targets;
· Government failure to set a minimum standard of energy efficiency
to be applied to affected households;
· Repeated criticism of the Government from the independent Fuel
Poverty Advisory Group;
· That the Government itself has admitted that targets to reduce and
eventually eliminate fuel poverty will be missed.
Friends of the Earth and Help the Aged are calling on the Government
to develop a far more effective and comprehensive programme of
domestic energy efficiency to simultaneously end suffering from fuel
poverty and tackle climate change.
Friends of the Earth’s Executive Director Andy Atkins said:-
“The Government is letting people down by failing on its legal
commitment to end the suffering of fuel poverty. At the
moment, most homes in the UK are simply leaking heat – to solve fuel
poverty in the long term, a massive energy efficiency programme is
needed. This will keep people warm, cut bills and help meet our
targets for tackling climate change.”
Mervyn Kohler, Special Adviser for Help the Aged, says:- “It’s
not surprising that older people in the North West have little faith
in the Government’s mediocre attempts to tackle fuel poverty. Though
fuel poverty is high on the media and political agendas, Government
actions to reduce it fall far short of the crisis it is creating for
millions of pensioners and low-income families. It is vital
that the Government comes up with an effective strategy for tackling
fuel poverty. Low income households need crisis payments simply to
get through the coming winter, but in the longer term, the energy
efficiency of our homes must be improved. The Government has a legal
duty to do this.” |
Fat’s all folks! TONY the
Tiger, Pom-Bear, Moo the Dairylea cow and Snap, Crackle and Pop are
cartoon baddies in the fight against childhood obesity and
diet-related disease, new Which? research has revealed.
Out of
19 children’s food company cartoon favourites, not a single
character promoted only healthier products. The research
demonstrates the need for industry to amend their self-regulatory
CAP and BCAP codes and use these much-loved characters to promote
foods that are lower in fat, salt and sugar.
Despite being revised in April 2007, the protection offered to
children by the CAP and BCAP code remains weak.
At the moment these
industry codes restrict the use of 3rd party licensed characters
like Shrek for younger children, but do nothing to stop
company-owned characters and do not cover all types of promotions,
including packaging.
The Cartoon League Table was compiled after 66% of people told
Which? they think food companies should not be allowed to use
cartoon characters to promote unhealthy foods to children.
This new research is part of Which?’s wider campaign to introduce
restrictions on marketing of junk food to children through TV,
internet and packaging as part of the broader fight against
childhood obesity and diet-related health problems.
Cartoon baddies included:-
Moo (Kraft - Dairylea) - Kraft’s cartoon cow is present
across a large spread of Dairylea packaging. Moo may seem a salt of
the earth character, but her products contain another sort of
sodium. Cheese products can be a rich source of calcium but
are often high in saturated fat and salt. Dairylea Lunchables chicken
‘n’ cheese wraps, for example, contain over a third of the maximum
amount of salt a 7 to 10 year old child should consume in a day (Food
Standard Agency guidelines).
Tony the Tiger (Kellogg’s - Frosties) – known for the
catchphrase, ‘They’re gr-r-reat!’, this stripy
character has promoted his frosted cereal for over 50 years making
him a household name. But Frosties contain over a 3rd sugar, giving
parents a reason to paws for thought.
Captain Crunch (Red Mill Snack Foods - Transform-A-Snack) –
he spends his days fighting the evil Baron Von Scoffalot, but with
crisps that are high in fat and salt, let’s hope he doesn’t scoff
all the snacks he promotes.
Clare Corbett, Which? Food Campaigner said:- “Cartoons are
great fun for kids. We definitely don’t want to see the end of
popular characters like Tony the Tiger and the Honey Monster, but we
do want to see them promoting healthier products.
Food
companies must play their part in the fight against childhood
obesity and diet-related disease by acting responsibly. Going back
to the drawing board and closing the cartoon loophole in their
self-regulatory CAP and BCAP codes is a vital step in tackling this
complex issue.
If the industry fails to act, the Government must
step in.”
Email us your views on this topic to or
news room via our direct email address:-
news24@southportreporter.com. |
