Help the Aged’s National Benefits Advice Project
Barbara Follett joined representatives from Help the Aged at the local launch of its national Benefits Advice Project. This was set up in 1999 in collaboration with British Gas, to tackle the scourge of cold homes. Since then, this scheme has helped older people on low incomes or in poor health get access to over £10million in benefits entitlements.
Mrs Follett said; “I am proud to support this project. Keeping warm in the winter is vital. In this town alone there are an average of 32 excess winter deaths linked to cold homes every year.”
Background (Stevenage & Hertfordshire):
- 20% of the population of Hertfordshire is currently over 60 and over 300,000 are living with long-term conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. Many also suffer from social exclusion.
- About 13% of Stevenage residents (town not constituency) are over the age of 65.
- Indices of multiple deprivation (2004) place Stevenage as the most deprived town in Herts and the Bedwell Ward as the most deprived in the county.
- Life expectancy in the lowest fifth of Stevenage wards (including Bedwell) is 76.7, cf. the national rate of 78.5.
- 29% of pensioners are claiming Pension Credit in the Stevenage constituency (approx. 3,700 people).
- 10.5% of households in the Stevenage area (boundaries not defined in Warm Homes Campaign 2007 literature) live in fuel poverty.
- Around 32 excess winter deaths a year have occurred in the Stevenage constituency since 2000.
Background (national):
- In 2005-06 there were 25,000 excess winter deaths among the 65+ age group. Over 90% of excess winter deaths occur in the pensioner population.
- Currently, Help the Aged estimate that around 4 million households are living in fuel poverty.
Issued: 11.12.2007
Further information
Please contact Faye Bunch via the 'Contact' page, or by fax on 020 7219 1158.
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