22% of city residents have fears over heating home

NEARLY one in four Edinburgh residents fear they will be unable to afford to heat their home, in another sign of the impact of the economic downturn and rising energy bills.

An authoritative survey of more than 1000 residents commissioned by the city council has revealed a sharp decline in the number of people that said they could always afford to heat their homes, from 86 per cent in 2007 to 78 per cent now.

The survey by Ipsos Mori also found the number of people dissatisfied with the way of the city remains at a record high. The tram project was by far the most common reason for people to be dissatisfied, followed by a perception that public funds are being wasted by council bosses.

Officials said that the growing "gloomy economic climate" will have contributed to the apparent rise in fuel poverty.

Jim Inch, director of the city council's corporate services department, said: "The long-term trend for those questions shows a worsening position between spring 2007 and spring 2009. The proportion of people who can afford to heat their homes has fallen, which may well be linked to fuel price increases over this period and the gloomy economic climate."

More than four in five respondents also said they were concerned about rising energy bills, and only 72 per cent said they could always afford to heat every room in their home. Elizabeth Gore, a spokeswoman for Energy Action Scotland, the national charity that aims to eliminate fuel poverty, said: "It is a worry, especially as people start to think ahead to the winter. We would be concerned about people not being able to afford to heat their homes." She said that, while elderly groups and parents with young children remained the groups affected most by "fuel poverty", many other groups - such as young people in rented accommodation - were also struggling to pay their bills.

The bi-annual residents survey, which costs the council 25,000, is based on interviews with all age groups.

The report also found a growing concern about the tram project in Edinburgh.

The number of people that said they were either "fairly dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied" with the council's management of the city remained at 37 per cent, the same as one year ago.

When asked to give a reason for their dissatisfaction, 181 people said trams, compared with 132 a year ago, while 109 highlighted general management and poor use of funds, with the tram thought to have contributed to many of these responses.

However, council leader Jenny Dawe insisted that calling a halt to the tram project would not mean the money would be spent elsewhere in Edinburgh. She said: "It's essential to stress that trams funding is a separate issue from how we pay for front-line services, and that cancelling the trams won't put extra money into the budgets for schools, roads or care services."