Member's statement: Fuel Poverty
Member's statement by Mr Andy Allen MBE on .
- MLA
- Mr Andy Allen MBE
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 26 November 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Fuel Poverty
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4677223
Read the official Assembly record
Text
As chairperson of the all-party group on fuel poverty, I bring to the House's attention National Energy Action's Fuel Poverty Awareness Day, which is tomorrow, Wednesday 27 November. The cold, hard facts of fuel poverty and its wide-ranging impacts are undeniable. LucidTalk polling in September 2024 for National Energy Action Northern Ireland found that 40% of households are spending at least 10% of their income on energy and therefore meet the definition of "fuel poverty". The continued pressure on household budgets has led to detrimental coping mechanisms. One in 10 households admitted to cutting back on food or skipping meals in the past 24 months because of energy costs. That means that the choice between heating and eating is a reality for around 80,000 households. More than one in four households — 27% — has gone without heating or electricity on at least one occasion as a result of not being able to afford the cost of energy. As we know, there are significant impacts on health and well-being from fuel poverty, with 31% of households reporting health impacts as a result of rising energy prices and the cost of living, including 14% that have experienced a deterioration in existing health conditions, and 5% that have required more visits to a GP or to hospital. Fuel poverty, as I said, is wide-ranging, and its impacts are undeniable. The 2024 Carers NI state of caring survey highlighted the fact that 28% of carers are cutting back on essentials such as food and heating. A recent report by Barnardo's titled 'Empty Plates and Cold Homes' further highlighted the strain that fuel poverty places on families and the impacts from growing up in a cold and damp home. Indeed, cold homes and poor living conditions are linked to housing insecurity. For too many, living in leaky homes with poor insulation only adds to the strain. The situation is bleak, but there are solutions. I welcome the draft Programme for Government's commitment to introducing a new fuel poverty strategy by 2025. I look forward to the consultation's launch. The strategy must be backed up by short-, medium- and long-term measures. Various Ministers have announced short-term measures in the House on numerous occasions. Although those measures are welcome and important, and their impact undeniable, they are short-term measures. They do not look at the medium-term to longer-term impacts of fuel poverty, at lifting households out of fuel poverty or at the other impacts and consequences that I have mentioned. That is why it is important that the fuel poverty strategy be underpinned by the required funding. It needs to have an action plan that is tangible and robust and that measures the outcomes.
448 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.02 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.94).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.94 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.75 |
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.21 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.03 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:35 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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