Yes – it’s that time of year again! It really makes you realise that winter is on its way in spite of the Indian summer we have been enjoying. We can look forward to “rain on the tracks”, “leaves on the tracks”, “snow on the tracks”, and maybe even a train on the tracks! We can …
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Whatever planet they are on I wish they would stay there and not interfere in British/English culture, policy and life in general. Why am I wishing them a long journey on Richard Branson’s plane to outer space? This latest really unbelievable proposal that energy suppliers will have access to a new industry-wide database of customers. …
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Well – what is the latest wheeze from the government? Well – not really a wheeze – more another order/demand: ‘YOU WILL’. One of the latest is around energy. ‘YOU ARE NOT SWITCHING SUPPLIERS – IT WILL BE COMPULSORY TO SWITCH EVERY YEAR’. What a load of rubbish. Have the government and policy makers nothing …
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Keeping warm in winter is especially important for older people but Electrical Safety First are highlighting the need to take particular care if they are using portable heaters. Those aged 80 and over made up nearly 40% of the fatalities caused by portable heater fires last year but research by Electrical Safety First found that …
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This is an update and more information on the smart meters from Mervyn Kohler at Age UK that were previously featured on the Opinion Exchange. Although Mervyn talks about a transmitting device you will not have to be connected to the internet for these meters to work. I can see in households where various people …
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Do you know what Smart Metering is? It is the Department of Energy and Climate Change Smart Metering Implementation Programme which requires energy suppliers to replace the 53 million meters in homes with smart electricity and gas meters by 2020. And who is paying for this? The consumer of course – you will be charged …
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As we know the government is totally into switching – banks, service providers – it is the new buzz word for the government and in some cases forcing people to switch when they don’t want to. But is it always the best thing? Do we all have the time to fiddle around and deal with …
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The Electrical Safety Council (ESC) is the UK charity which helps protect people from electrical accidents and fires. Each week in the UK, one person dies from an electrical accident and well over a quarter of a million are injured every year. Most household fires – more than 20,000 annually – are caused by electricity, …
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A public consultation on the Mayor’s Draft London Housing Strategy closes on 17th February 2014. Age UK London will be responding and it would be great to hear from you if you have views and experiences which you would like to feed in. What the Mayor’s team have put in the draft does show awareness of older people …
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You can always tell when the cold weather and winter is arriving by the Energy Suppliers. The first whiff of cooler weather and they announce eye watering increases in electricity and gas. Is there anything you can do? There is more and more advice to look at the tariff you are on – there are …
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