Steve McCabe, the Member of Parliament for Birmingham, Selly Oak today asked the Prime Minister at PMQs if he would make a guarantee that the shocking figure of 9000 people who died in their homes last year as they were too cold, would be lower in the coming year.
The figures come from the recently released State of Ageing Report, which paints a depressing picture of growing old in the UK, with figures from the report also showing that almost 1 in 5 homes headed by someone aged 60 or older is in a condition that endangers the health of the people who live there.
Commenting on the Prime Minister’s refusal to answer his question, Steve said:
“Today I asked the Prime Minister a simple question that deserved a straight answer, he avoided giving one and refused to commit to helping those in desperate need of help. The fact he said that he and his party sympathise with those struggling to pay their heating is laughable, when just minutes later he once again refused to commit to the introduction of a windfall tax on North Sea gas and oil.
“That 9000 people over the age of 60 died in their homes last year as they were too cold is simply awful. Much more needs to be done to support those struggling to pay to heat their homes. I can assure people I will be following this up with the Prime Minister to ensure that the shocking figures mentioned today are not repeated in years to come.”
Responding to the discussion of the figures at PMQs, Carole Easton, Chief Executive of the Centre for Ageing Better, said:
“We are grateful that Ageing Better’s report was discussed during Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament today to raise awareness of the dire state of our national housing stock.
Our State of Ageing 2022 report highlighted the desperate situation that saw almost 9,000 people dying last year in England and Wales because their homes were too cold.
We need urgent action from across government to tackle the national epidemic of poor housing, and the introduction of regulations to make homes fit for the future.”
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