Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the financial impact on the National Health Service of poor health caused by cold homes.

The annual cost to the National Health Service in England of cold housing is reported to be between £850 million¹ and £1.36 billion².This does not include additional spending by social services, or economic losses through absences from work. Total costs to the NHS and the country are unknown³.

The Cold Weather Plan for England ³ is a framework intended to protect the population from harm to health from cold weather, including vulnerable older people. It aims to prevent the major avoidable effects on health during periods of cold weather in England by alerting people to the negative health effects of cold weather, and enabling them to prepare and respond appropriately.

Help is available through Cold Weather Payments which provide more targeted support for vulnerable low-income groups. The Government has permanently increased Cold Weather Payments from £8.50 to £25 for the duration of this Parliament for each qualifying period of cold weather.

This winter over 2 million low income households, including over 1.4 million poorer pensioners, will receive a discount of £140 off their electricity bill through the Warm Home Discount scheme.

Winter Fuel Payments also provide assurance to older people, who may suffer the worst impacts of a progressive condition, so that they can keep warm during the winter months. In addition, around 482,000 low income and vulnerable homes have received energy efficiency measures under Energy Companies Obligation.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change have commissioned work that will allow them to model the potential cost-savings to health and social care services from energy efficiency measures and other interventions.

Notes:

1. Department of Health (2010) ‘Winter kills’, in 2009 Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer

2. The Cost of Cold: Why we need to protect the health of older people in winter

3. Public Health England (2014) The Cold Weather Plan for England. Making the case: why long-term strategic planning for cold weather is essential to health and wellbeing