Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey has announced that doctors will be invited to prescribe boilers, insulation and double-glazing to patients they judge to be ill as a result of a cold home due to fuel poverty.
Announcing at Ecobuild, the event in London (March 3-5), the government’s strategy to tackle fuel poverty, Davey said doctors should prescribe energy efficiency home improvements to help tackle diseases resulting from cold homes.
Davey announced a £3 million package of funding for pilot schemes designed to tackle fuel poverty, including £1 million released immediately for “warmth-on-prescription” projects.
Davey told the conference that by focusing on energy efficiency, the fuel poverty strategy was a “win-win” for tenants living in cold homes, and their landlords wanting help to improve and upgrade their properties.
Davey said he wanted to use the link with GPs to turn fuel poverty into:
“one of the next big public health campaigns of the future…Bringing together health and fuel poverty could be one of the most significant boosts this sector has ever seen.”