FUEL POVERTY AND ENERGY CONSERVATION BILL

That this House believes that as the millennium approaches it is unacceptable that some 8,000,000 households live in cold homes, that up to 50,000 people die every winter from cold-related illnesses, that around ú1 billion of NHS money is required every year to treat cold-related illnesses and that the current crisis in the NHS may be repeated every winter as a result; acknowledges that the Government has announced its wish to end fuel poverty; and therefore declares its support for the Fuel Poverty and Energy Conservation Bill introduced by the honourable Member for Dundee East, which will require local authorities, as part of their reports under the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995, to draw up strategies to combat fuel poverty, and then to ensure action by appointing a designated officer.