Fuel poverty debt hits more Littlehampton families

THE number of people in the Littlehampton area in debt because of “fuel poverty” is set to rise by more than a third in the 12 months up to the end of March.

Littlehampton’s Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is expecting to help 110 people in debt because of high fuel bills in the current year, 36 per cent more than in the same period ending April, 2011.

The figures have been highlighted as Big Energy Week (January 16-21) is about to get underway, with the same emphasis on encouraging people to make their homes more energy efficient and shop around for cheaper power suppliers.

And now the bureau, part of Arun and Chichester Citizens Advice, is even better equipped to help people, thanks to funding from the major energy companies.

The money is paying for a free Energy Best Deal service offered by the CAB and has also met the costs of training bureau staff so they can give the best advice to people on how to make their homes energy efficient, ensure they are claiming the right benefits and are on the best energy tariff to suit them.

Nationally, almost 5,500 frontline advisers have been trained, thanks to the record funding of £600,000, and it is estimated that more than 94,000 consumers have benefited from the Energy Best Deal training sessions since 2008.

Energy watchdog Ofgem is working alongside the CAB in delivering the service.