That this House notes that over the last 10 years there has been an average of nearly 30,000 excess winter deaths each year in the UK, the vast majority of which are older people; recognises that the immediate cause of most deaths is cardiovascular or respiratory problems brought about by exposure to cold; highlights that in many cases these deaths and associated ill-health are preventable; further recognises the strain that cold weather-related health problems place on local health services, the cost of which has been estimated by the Chief Medical Officer at £890 million per year in England alone, making this a national public health issue; and further notes that hon. Members of this House have a role to play in helping prevent excess winter deaths and associated ill-health problems by encouraging local authorities and other organisations in their constituencies to both prioritise this issue as a public health concern and put plans in place to deal with it.

That this House notes that over the last 10 years there has been an average of nearly 30,000 excess winter deaths each year in the UK, the vast majority of which are older people; recognises that the immediate cause of most deaths is cardiovascular or respiratory problems brought about by...

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 ??1 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.

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 ??1 billion of NHS money is required every year to treat cold-related illnesses and that the current...

That this House notes with dismay that the United Kingdom has a higher death toll from cold-related illnesses than any other nation and that a major factor is poorly insulated houses; and therefore calls for a reduction in VAT on insulation and energy efficiency equipment and a massive increase in the programme for upgrading the energy efficiency of homes occupied by those on low incomes.

That this House notes with dismay that the United Kingdom has a higher death toll from cold-related illnesses than any other nation and that a major factor is poorly insulated houses; and therefore calls for a reduction in VAT on insulation and energy efficiency equipment and a massive increase in...

That this House notes the severe weather conditions on Christmas Eve, which had been predicted by the Meteorological Office; further notes that several thousand homes were left without electricity in the Norweb area and that this included Withnell House old people's nursing home, which was without electricity for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day yet required only a half-hour repair job to replace fuses; notes that the Norweb customer fault reporting line remained unanswered; believes that this deplorable level of customer service is due to Norweb putting profit before customer service; and calls upon Norweb to issue an action plan setting out how such emergencies will be dealt with in the future.

That this House notes the severe weather conditions on Christmas Eve, which had been predicted by the Meteorological Office; further notes that several thousand homes were left without electricity in the Norweb area and that this included Withnell House old people's nursing home, which was without electricity for Christmas Eve,...

That this House views with dismay the Government refusal to activate the Bellwin Scheme of emergency financial assistance in respect of the costs of an estimated ??200,000 incurred by South Yorkshire Fire and Civil Defence Authority during the prolonged spell of dry weather last summer, the worst recorded for 800 years; and calls on the Government at this late hour to activate the Bellwin Scheme in order to avoid a shortfall of funds of some ??125,000 despite the transfer of all its pension reserves.

That this House views with dismay the Government refusal to activate the Bellwin Scheme of emergency financial assistance in respect of the costs of an estimated ??200,000 incurred by South Yorkshire Fire and Civil Defence Authority during the prolonged spell of dry weather last summer, the worst recorded for 800...

The this House notes the recent exceptionally severe weatherin Scotland over the Christmas and New Year period when record low temperatures were recorded; further notes that on some occasions Glasgow was one of the coldest cities in the world; praises everyone who did what they could to help, especially those workers who had to endure atrocious conditions, in contrast to the attitude of the Minister for Industry and Local Government, the honourable Member for Kincardine and Deeside who failed to take the necessary urgent action; and calls upon the Government immediately to make available whatever resources are necessary to restore normality, and to restore damaged homes and other buildings with the minimum of delay.

The this House notes the recent exceptionally severe weatherin Scotland over the Christmas and New Year period when record low temperatures were recorded; further notes that on some occasions Glasgow was one of the coldest cities in the world; praises everyone who did what they could to help, especially those...

That this House is grateful to Shelter in their continuing campaign on behalf of homeless people in Britain; congratulates them on their organisation, including their publication of the Left Out report, which revealed clear evidence that urgent Government action is needed to avert tragedy and suffering this winter amongst homeless people sleeping rough throughout the United Kingdom; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government to take action as advised by Shelter and to institute authoritative research into the true scale of the problem of sleeping rough so that a proper strategy to provide adequate long-term emergency accommodation can be found for this unfortunate group of citizens.

That this House is grateful to Shelter in their continuing campaign on behalf of homeless people in Britain; congratulates them on their organisation, including their publication of the Left Out report, which revealed clear evidence that urgent Government action is needed to avert tragedy and suffering this winter amongst homeless...

That this House supports the Campaign for Cold Weather Credits because it considers that a dry warm house is not a luxury but should be the right of every citizen in this country and especially the elderly, sick, disabled and children at greater risk of hypothermia and cold-related illnesses during the winter months because of dampness, inadequately heated homes and high fuel costs; believes that an end to such sufferings could be achieved by integrating cold weather payments with an extension of the existing programme for home energy efficiency to be operated as cold weather credits by the Department of Energy and that such a shift from the DSS would reflect the reality that an estimated six million households in Britain live in homes which are difficult or impossible to heat to an adequate standard during the months of early December to late March; and believes that such a shift would also be beneficial because it will include an assessment of the costs to health and social services of the current failure to provide low income households with dry warm homes.

That this House supports the Campaign for Cold Weather Credits because it considers that a dry warm house is not a luxury but should be the right of every citizen in this country and especially the elderly, sick, disabled and children at greater risk of hypothermia and cold-related illnesses during...

That this House notes that on Friday morning 15th February 1991 Homeless Emergency London People (HELP), having fruitlessly sought assistance from the Department of the Environment, and having exhausted all other avenues, contacted the honourable Member for Workington, seeking urgent assistance to obtain 200 blankets to distribute that night, and throughout the weekend, to people sleeping rough on London's streets; notes that HELP had run out of blankets and had to turn away people, many of them dangerously ill as a result of sleeping out in sub-zero temperatures night and night; notes that the private office of the Secretary of State for the Environment was immediately contacted from which an official contacted HELP regretting that the Department could do no more than provide two telephone numbers for the Salvation Army, an organisation whom HELP had already contacted to find that their own and other hostels were themselves short of blankets; notes that after many hours of telephone calls by the honourable Member's staff to a range of organisations, blankets were, through good fortune, obtained from Westminster Hospital; notes that at 5.47 p.m. a departmental official telephoned the honourable Member's office to claim that the Department had been doing all they could to help; understands that HELP are short of 300 to 500 blankets for this weekend and the Department of the Environment have not even returned their telephone calls seeking assistance; and condemns the Government's demonstrated lack of concern and co-ordinated assistance in meeting this continuing emergency.

That this House notes that on Friday morning 15th February 1991 Homeless Emergency London People (HELP), having fruitlessly sought assistance from the Department of the Environment, and having exhausted all other avenues, contacted the honourable Member for Workington, seeking urgent assistance to obtain 200 blankets to distribute that night, and...

That while this House welcomes the Government's current Severe Weather Programme initiative to provide emergency accommodation for homeless people sleeping rough in London, it views with concern the lack of a co-ordinated programme of emergency housing provision outside London; notes that the need outside London is just as great as in the capital; and calls on the Government, in the light of Meteorological Office forecasts of continuing severe weather, to extend immediately its current programme of emergency hostel and daycare facilities to the rest of the country, and to make the necessary financial resources available to local authorities to co-ordinate the provision of these services.

That while this House welcomes the Government's current Severe Weather Programme initiative to provide emergency accommodation for homeless people sleeping rough in London, it views with concern the lack of a co-ordinated programme of emergency housing provision outside London; notes that the need outside London is just as great as...

That this House is painfully aware of the widespread devastation that was caused in the East Midlands by recent severe weather conditions causing a long-term loss of crucial water and electricity supplies to factories, pits, hospitals, shops, nursing homes, hostels and to hundreds of thousands of people in their homes, including the aged, young children and others at risk; congratulates all those who worked so hard to re-establish supplies and those who brought water, food and heating to those in need, including local radio stations who helped to keep those with battery-operated radios supplied with vital information about these rescue operations; recognises that the devastation was at its very worst in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire; utterly condemns the Government for failing to handle the emergency including its refusal to announce that Bellwin and other monies will be provided for local authorities,voluntary organisations and individuals involved in rescue operations; further condemns the national media for failing to focus sufficient attention on this crisis; believes that Government and national media action was not forthcoming because of the emergency taking place outside Southern England and because it coincided with the flotation and initial marketing of East Midlands Electricity shares which would have been undersubscribed and have fallen sharply in value if the truth of the situation had been widely known; and expects the Government to act immediately to assist affected populations if severe weather conditions return.

That this House is painfully aware of the widespread devastation that was caused in the East Midlands by recent severe weather conditions causing a long-term loss of crucial water and electricity supplies to factories, pits, hospitals, shops, nursing homes, hostels and to hundreds of thousands of people in their homes,...

That this House re-affirms its deep concern for the plight of masses of people in the East Midlands who are still without electricity supplies some 250,000 people were still without electricity supplies and that under present arrangements significant numbers of these will be without electricity for well over a week before their supplies are reconnected; expresses admiration for the considerable efforts of hard-pressed electricity workers in their attempts to re-establish supplies; but condemns utterly the failure of the Department of Energy to either declare that an emergency exists or to move essential resources into the East Midlands to tackle the crisis; regrets that East Midland Electricity has itself failed to ask the Department of Energy to take emergency action; and believes that this is due to fears of the impact that such a move would have upon the flotation and sale of its electricity shares.

That this House re-affirms its deep concern for the plight of masses of people in the East Midlands who are still without electricity supplies some 250,000 people were still without electricity supplies and that under present arrangements significant numbers of these will be without electricity for well over a week...

That this House is gravely concerned at the plight of the elderly, the disabled and all low income groups; is aware that the beauty of the Christmas card landscape, effected by the artistry of frost and snow, hides a relentless, remorseless enemy which brought death to some in the current severe winter weather and put at risk many more thousands who were required to use fuel to excess in the circumstances because of the abnormality of the extreme cold weather; and calls on the Prime Minister to bring an end to this risk by activating immediately the special cold weather payments.

That this House is gravely concerned at the plight of the elderly, the disabled and all low income groups; is aware that the beauty of the Christmas card landscape, effected by the artistry of frost and snow, hides a relentless, remorseless enemy which brought death to some in the current...