UKERC partner ECI and leading fuel poverty experts NEA (National Energy Action) are working together on a scoping study to identify whether there is a need for a national “Fuel Poverty Centre of Excellence”. This ESRC-funded study will involve major stakeholders in assessing the current state of fuel poverty research in the UK, determining whether an academic Centre of Excellence is required to consolidate and advance research and, if so, what the most appropriate institutional arrangement would be.
Organisations and individuals with interests in fuel poverty will be invited to give their views via a questionnaire to be circulated in April. A workshop will be held in Oxford in June, where the project’s draft results will be discussed and debated, before a final report is prepared in July.If the outcome of the scoping study is to establish a Fuel Poverty Centre of Excellence then the final report from the project will be used to form the basis for a funding application to potential supporters.
Those who would like to contribute their views on a Fuel Poverty Centre of Excellence are invited to send their contact details and/or initial comments to: