10.4.9 The ONS Expenditure and Food Survey provides detailed information on how households spend their money. Across most categories the pattern of spend in the South West is broadly in line with that for England as a whole, with the largest shares of household expenditure being on transport and recreation and culture.
10.4.10 Historically, the proportion of spend in the region on transport was high relative to other English regions, reflecting the predominantly rural nature of the South West. The latest data however shows it to be equal to the England equivalent (13%). The South West exceeds the spend in England for recreation and culture, housing (net), fuel and power, and food and alcoholic drinks. The South West has the second highest regional spend on recreation and culture (13.3% of our total expenditure), behind the South East.
Figure 10.4.4 Household Expenditure as a Proportion of Total Expenditure 2007 - 09 (3 year average)
Household Expenditure as a Proportion of Total Expenditure 2007 - 09 (3 year average) (Fig 10.4.4). Source: ONS.
10.4.11 Comparing the most recent Survey with earlier versions suggests that total household expenditure in the South West in 2007-09 was about 30% higher than in 2001/2, the highest regional proportional increase. This rise was largely as a result of increases in expenditure in the region on housing (net), fuel and power (+66%), recreation and culture (+36%) and transport (+12%).
10.4.12 A household is said to be in fuel poverty if it needs to spend more than 10% of its income on fuel to maintain a satisfactory heating regime (usually 21 degrees for the main living area, and 18 degrees for other occupied rooms), plus spending on energy for water heating, lights, appliances and cooking. The “fuel poverty ratio” is defined as: fuel costs (usage x price) ÷ income.
10.4.13 Whether a household is in fuel poverty or not is determined by the interaction of a number of factors, but there are three main causes. These are:
-
The energy efficiency status of the property (and therefore, the energy required to heat and power the home)
-
The cost of energy
-
Household income
10.4.14 Poor energy efficiency in the home, high energy costs and low income can combine to affect adversely the ability of people, particularly vulnerable or disadvantaged groups, to heat their homes adequately or to pay their bills. Energy efficiency of homes is regulated through the use of SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure) ratings for new and existing dwellings.
10.4.15 Electricity consumption in the South West has historically been one of the highest in Great Britain, and regional gas consumption the lowest. Geographically, this disparity can be attributed to the largely rural nature of the south west area with many settlements lying off the gas mains infrastructure and hence a reliance on electrically powered heating and cooking appliances. Further details can be found in the Housing and Environment chapters.
10.4.16 In England, there were around 2.4m fuel poor households in 2006, and in the South West there were just over quarter of a million with minimal differential between the national and regional percentages. Figure 10.6 shows
the distribution of households in fuel poverty across Local Authority areas in the region, with the most affected areas towards the south and west of the peninsula. Rural areas such as North Cornwall and Torridge in Devon show the highest percentage of households affected by this expenditure.
Figure 10.4.5 % of Households who are Fuel Poor, 2006
% of Households who are Fuel Poor, 2006 (Fig 10.4.5). Source: DECC.
10.4.17 From 2004 both England and the region have undergone a marked upward trend to more than double the number of households affected by 2008. The national and regional increase in fuel poverty in this period has been caused by rising fuel prices. Comparing regional against national trends, in 2003 households in fuel poverty in the South West stood at 6.5%, higher than the England figure of 5.9%. This trend continued for the next two years, levelling out somewhat in 2006 and dropping below the England total in 2007. Substantial increases were then seen at both the national and regional level, in 2008. Improvements in the energy efficiency of housing should help prevent some households from falling into fuel poverty and in some cases removing fuel poor households from
fuel poverty; however the recent increases in this data show that the fuel poverty continues to be an issue both regionally and nationally.
Table 10.4.4 Percentage of Households who are fuel poor 2003-08
| |
2003 |
2004 |
2005
|
2006 |
2007
|
2008
|
South West
|
6.5 |
6.2
|
8.3
|
11.6
|
11.7
|
15.5
|
| England |
5.9 |
5.9
|
7.2
|
11.5
|
13.2
|
15.6
|
Source: DECC Fuel Poverty Statistics - Trends in Fuel Poverty 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007; 2008
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10.4.18 Living in cold homes can damage people’s health and affect their quality of life. The elderly, children, and those with a disability or long-term illness are especially vulnerable. The Government has a number of programmes
looking at reducing the proportion of fuel poor households, including the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan and the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT). Additional activities focused on helping eliminate fuel poverty include predicting where fuel poverty will occur. The Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) and the University of Bristol have produced a new fuel poverty indicator (FPI) showing the incidence of fuel poverty in Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs).
10.4.19 For more information: data on fuel poverty and impact on households is accessible via the Fuel Poverty Indicator website. Department of Energy and Climate Change statistics are accessible from their website: DECC. Please see the Data Table at the end of the chapter for details on the datasets used.
Ownership of Household Goods
10.4.20 The ownership of a range of household goods provides some indication of the relative prosperity of the population. The proportion of households in the South West with such goods is similar to or higher than the England equivalent in most cases. The rural nature of the region is to a degree reflected in the fact that 82% of households own one or more car or van, the second highest percentage of car ownership among English regions (England 76%). The South West has the highest proportion of households with telephone (92%, England 89%) and with a mobile phone (85%, England 81%).
Figure 10.4.6 Percentage of Households with durable goods: 2007 - 2009 (three year average)
Percentage of Households with durable goods: 2007 - 2009 (three year average) (Fig 10.4.6). Source: Family Spending.
10.4.21 Comparing the 2007-09 Survey data with that of 2001/02 gives an indication of the growth in ownership of some of these goods. The largest percentage point rises in the South West during this period have been in the ownership of satellite, digital or cable receivers (from 36% to 82% of households), internet connections (35% to 68%), mobile phones (63% to 85%) and home computers (46% to 73%).
