The government is expected to announce new fuel poverty figures in the next few weeks. Although fuel poverty levels have fallen from around 5.1 million in 1996/7 to around 1.4 million in 2004, it is widely expected that thanks to astronomical rises in energy retail prices in the last year or so, the size of the fuel poor is expected to have swollen. Although recent price cuts by energy retailers will ease the pressure on politicians to act, finding ways to effectively tackle the problem have been taxing the minds of many. In the following article, Arthur Probert and Angus Anderson~* set out their thoughts on this vexing issue.
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