ePolitix.com Stakeholders outline the public policy issues that need to be addressed as winter approaches.

Stakeholder Response: Help the Aged

Steve Jones, director of communications at Help the Aged, said: "While the fall in the number of older people who died last winter as a result of cold-related illnesses is welcome, there is absolutely no room to be complacent.  The numbers of 'excess winter deaths' may well be falling, but the rates of fuel poverty are climbing ever higher.

"Despite these new figures, many pensioners still agonise about whether or not to heat their homes in the cold weather.  In the world’s fourth richest country, this is simply shameful. 

"The winter fuel payment of £200 and the basic state pension have both failed to keep pace with rising costs of energy.  It’s now time for Gordon Brown to put our money where his mouth is and increase the state pension or offer a winter fuel payment that properly combats the recent rise in fuel poverty."

Stakeholder Response: The Wise Group

A spokesman said: "A significant challenge facing our client base this winter will be fuel poverty.

"Although much progress has been made in recent years in tackling fuel poverty but much of the reduction has been the result of falling fuel prices rather than the wholesale removal of people from the danger zone where they are vulnerable to re-entering fuel poverty because of price increases.

"Energy efficiency activity is critical to the sustainable reduction of fuel poverty. The Scottish Housing Condition Survey (SHCS) estimates that between 1996 and 2002 some 455,000 households moved out of fuel poverty but of these only 15 per cent did so because of energy efficiency activity. The rest were impacted upon by price reductions and increased income.

"Energy Action Scotland has also estimated that at least 140,000 households have since moved back into fuel poverty because of the recent increases in energy prices and that every five per cent increase in fuel prices pulls 30,000 households back into fuel poverty.

"It is clear that the only way to reduce fuel poverty that will not be as vulnerable to the fluctuations in cost is through energy efficiency. Further action must be taken to ensure that the good progress made on tackling fuel poverty to date is not lost as a result of these price rises.

"As 'energy saving week' comes to a close we have been campaigning to motivate people to save their 20 per cent, through basic energy efficiency activities and we continue to deliver energy efficiency activities (such as insulation) to disadvantaged households across Scotland.

"This ongoing activity is critical if we are to reduce the impact our lifestyles have on our climate, and also if we are serious about tackling fuel poverty in a sustainable way."

Stakeholder Response: Chance UK

A spokesman said: "Our biggest challenge in the winter months is finding appropriate and safe spaces and low-cost activities where mentors and children can go on weekday evenings, particularly between 6.00pm and 8.00pm.

"The majority of our volunteer mentors work full-time and so the mentoring takes place during the weekends and evenings. 

"On winter evenings they need safe spaces, such as accessible and friendly libraries or other spaces where they can sit and chat or do worksheets on issues such as anger or expressing emotions or to work on scrapbooks, a fantastic reflective tool as well a keepsake for once the mentoring has finished.

"Some libraries and other community resources are fantastic, open and welcoming whereas many other spaces are not so welcome to people coming and using the space for their own purposes. 

"If more resources could be put into community facilities (places to go, things to do) this would certainly support mentoring programmes such as ours.

"Because it can sometimes seem like a struggle to find interesting and varies things to do, keeping up the motivation levels within our volunteers at this time of year can be a challenge for our team too."