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Gorst, John

Greenway, Harry (Ealing N)

Griffiths, Peter (Portsmouth, N)

Hague, William

Hampson, Dr Keith

Hannam, Sir John

Harris, David

Hawksley, Warren

Hayes, Jerry

Heald, Oliver

Hendry, Charles

Hill, James (Southampton Test)

Horam, John

Hughes Robert G. (Harrow W)

Hunt, Sir John (Ravensbourne)

Hunter, Andrew

Jenkin, Bernard

Jones, Gwilym (Cardiff N)

Jones, Robert B. (W Hertfdshr)

Kellett-Bowman, Dame Elaine

Key, Robert

Kilfedder, Sir James

King, Rt Hon Tom

Kirkhope, Timothy

Knapman, Roger

Knight, Greg (Derby N)

Kynoch, George (Kincardine)

Lamont, Rt Hon Norman

Lawrence, Sir Ivan

Legg, Barry

Lidington, David

Lightbown, David

MacKay, Andrew

Maginnis, Ken

Malone, Gerald

Martin, David (Portsmouth S)

Mawhinney, Dr Brian

Mayhew, Rt Hon Sir Patrick

Merchant, Piers

Mitchell, Andrew (Gedling)

Neubert, Sir Michael

Nicholls, Patrick

Norris, Steve

Onslow, Rt Hon Sir Cranley

Oppenheim, Phillip

Patnick, Irvine

Pattie, Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey

Porter, David (Waveney)

Rathbone, Tim

Richards, Rod

Robathan, Andrew

Robertson, Raymond (Ab'd'n S)

Robinson, Mark (Somerton)

Rowe, Andrew (Mid Kent)

Ryder, Rt Hon Richard

Scott, Rt Hon Nicholas

Shaw, David (Dover)

Shepherd, Colin (Hereford)

Sims, Roger

Smith, Tim (Beaconsfield)

Speed, Sir Keith

Spencer, Sir Derek

Spicer, Sir James (W Dorset)

Spink, Dr Robert

Steen, Anthony

Stephen, Michael

Stern, Michael

Streeter, Gary

Sweeney, Walter

Sykes, John

Taylor, Ian (Esher)

Taylor, Rt Hon John D. (Strgfd)

Taylor, John M. (Solihull)

Temple-Morris, Peter

Thomason, Roy

Thompson, Patrick (Norwich N)

Trend, Michael

Trotter, Neville

Twinn, Dr Ian

Viggers, Peter

Walker, Bill (N Tay for the Noes :

Mr. Sydney Chapman and

Mr. James Arbuthnot.

Question accordingly negatived.

Question, That the proposed words be there added, put forthwith pursuant to Standing Order No. 30 (Questions on amendments), and agreed to.

Mr. Deputy Speaker-- forthwith declared the main Question, as amended, to be agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House commends the Government's determination to tackle crime through a broad range of measures aimed at preventing crime through a broad range of measures aimed at preventing crime, punishing offenders and helping the victims of crime ; recognises that government support of crime prevention takes many forms, including support of the police and support through the programmes of several government departments, believes that the key to preventing crime lies in partnership between the police, other agencies and the public ; and applauds the work being done by this Government to promote and support partnership at both local and national levels.

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Column 1039

Cold Climate Allowance

7.39 pm

Mrs. Margaret Ewing (Moray) : I beg to move,

That this House, recognising that widespread fuel poverty means many more people on low or fixed incomes have to choose between malnutrition or hypothermia and that excess deaths rise during the winter months, calls on Her Majesty's Government to institute forthwith a cold climate allowance payable to those on basic state benefits ; believes this should be an automatic payment during 17 weeks from December to March in addition to severe weather payments and should also take account of prevailing climatic conditions throughout the United Kingdom ; believes that energy efficiency is best created by a programme of house-building, house renovation and house improvement which would save lives, save energy and create employment ; and rejects current proposed price mechanisms such as value-added tax on domestic fuel which will further penalise the most vulnerable and which are morally and politically unacceptable.

Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Michael Morris) : I have to tell the House that Madam Speaker has selected the amendment in the name of the Prime Minister.

Mrs. Ewing : It is with a great sense of anger that yet again I rise in the House to talk about the issue of fuel poverty and the need for a cold climate allowance, and the implications of that for health, for welfare and, most important of all, for people themselves. In the motion, I am, above all, talking about people. This is not a pious or esoteric issue. It is not a philosophical debate ; it is about the quality of life. It is a question of where legislators place their moral responsibility, and the value that we place on each individual human life.

My anger relates to the long neglect of the matter. When I was first elected to the House in 1974, when you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and I were much younger--as were many other hon. Members--I was accused of scaremongering because I asked a series of parliamentary questions and made statements on the issue of cold-related deaths. Those accusations came from the then Labour Government and also from the official Opposition. Apparently it was not appropriate at that time to ask such questions.

Despite detailed questioning by myself and other hon. Members at that time, there was a refusal to recognise the extent of the problem about which we are still talking in 1993. For example, on 10 January 1978, the then Secretary of State for Social Services said : "hypothermia was mentioned on fewer than 600 death certificates in England and Wales."--[ Official Report, 10 January 1978 ; Vol. 941, c. 1422.]

Subsequently, in an article in The Observer of 16 December 1979, and in other newspapers, the former junior Minister at the Department of Health and Social Security, the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher), who has received notification of the fact that I will mention his name tonight, admitted to political pressures being exerted on him. Departmental officials ruled that it was important not to issue information in this politically sensitive area which might be misleading and which could certainly be used against the Government. The hon. Gentleman was advised that it was almost certain that any reply suggesting that large numbers of old people were suffering from hypothermia would be used to bring pressure on the Government to improve heating provisions for old people.

That was the attitude that prevailed at that time. It was much easier to say that hypothermia related to deaths caused only as a result of accidents in Scottish, Welsh or

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English mountains. However, the reality, as we all know, is that the deaths of many of our old, our sick and our vulnerable are related to the extent of cold from which they suffer.

In an amended reply, the hon. Member for Oldham, West said that he was unable to give an estimate, but evidence from death certificates in England and Wales revealed that only 17 people died from hypothermia in 1974. He admitted subsequently that many people die from hypothermia, but that they are written off on their death certificates as heart attack victims.

It is my sincere hope that matters have moved on since then, both in the House and in our community as a whole. There is widespread interest and concern. I have stacks of files in my office--the equivalent of a mountain, so I have not brought all of them to the House--from various concerned organisations that represent the elderly, the disabled, health services and the Royal College of Nursing. They agree with us, some 20 years on, that there is a need to recognise the significance of cold as it relates to the welfare of our people. I should also point out that the current Prime Minister, who in the 1970s and early 1980s acted as a junior Minister at the Department of Health and Social Security, recognised that the cost of fuel was relevant to those on low incomes. He said :

"Fuel is clearly a basic necessity, especially for the elderly and the sick. I recognise the concern that is felt by many on low incomes when it comes to paying for fuel."--[ Official Report, 16 December 1985 ; Vol. 89, c. 134.]

He went on to talk about the issue of excess deaths in our winter months. Later, he referred to

"the excess number of winter deaths that have perplexed successive Governments for years The real problem, then as now is not hypothermia, but the additional deaths from all causes, particularly heart disease, strokes and chest infections, which tend to occur in winter. It is a long-standing problem that our excess winter mortality rate is higher than that in other countries with severe winters, such as the United States of America and Sweden."--[ Official Report, 2 December 1986 ; Vol. 106, c. 834-35.]

The reality is that those excess winter deaths are still occurring. Here we are, looking forward to the millennium, another century, yet still the House and society as a whole are talking about people who will die because they are unable to heat their homes effectively and look after the welfare of their families.

According to Strathclyde Elderly Forum, every year between 3,000 and 5,000 Scots die from cold-related illnesses. Not all those people are aged or infirm. Let us take the years 1976 to 1984 and look beyond the boundaries of my country of Scotland at what happened elsewhere. The number of deaths in January in West Germany was 4 per cent. above the monthly average ; in Sweden and Norway it was 7 per cent. above the monthly average ; but in Scotland it was 16 per cent. above the average monthly rate. That shows quite clearly that we have still not remedied either the causes or the effects of fuel poverty in our nation. I must say to the Government--with sincerity and a great deal of passion because I regard this as a moral issue that is based on fundamental principles about people and their right to life--that unless the issue of fuel poverty is addressed effectively, we shall continue to have a situation whereby we have a Westminster euthanasia system for the most vulnerable in our society. This is not an issue that pertains solely to Scotland, although I understand the situation there. I care about

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