The Open Data Institute (ODI) has launched a new digital tool for users to explore the issue of fuel poverty.
The fuel poverty risk index has been developed by Mime Consulting on the Tableau platform, brings together 12 datasets on the issue and calculates the risk of someone being in fuel poverty for each local authority area in England – with a graphic tool that can be used to drill down to local and regional impacts.
It makes it possible to look at a total risk score for these and a range of factors including the proportion of households in fuel poverty, ability to pay, demand, electricity prepayment meters per 100,000 households, the proportion of a population receiving the winter fuel payment and the percentage of domestic properties not connected to the gas grid.
The data comes from sources including the Met Office, the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. It is published under the CC BY 4.0 licence.
ODI said the index will be updated annually to show the impact of changes such as the end of universal help with energy bills in April 2023, and the future updates could include data on Scotland, Wales and Norther Ireland and from charities.
Identifying people needing help
Its director of data and services Lisa Allen said: “Having an effective data infrastructure in place around fuel poverty would help to identify those who are in most need in a systematic way and could also highlight the longer term benefits associated with adequate investment in efforts to tackle fuel poverty.
“In turn, this would assist government, charities and those households in need of assistance with bills or energy efficiency.
“It is important that this data is as up to date as possible, so that decisions can be made in a timely manner and across factors. This could help decide which groups to target when offering support and how much investment in fuel poverty support is optimal given short and long term impacts.”
ODI has also published a report, Fuel poverty and data infrastructure, showing the sections of society most affected by fuel poverty and looking at areas of the country where it hits hardest.
Among its findings are that there are large geographic variations in fuel poverty, with the West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber having the highest proportions (17.8% and 17.5% of affected households), while householders in Blackpool have the highest potential for fuel poverty according to the risk index.
