Ministers have said that they will continue with their fight against fuel poverty, as Environment Secretary Hilary Benn holds meetings with energy suppliers and the home insulation industry to discuss how to speed up work on increasing energy efficiency in the UK's homes.

The pledge comes as Defra and BERR jointly published the Sixth Annual Progress Report for the UK Fuel Poverty Strategy, and follows the recent announcement of a £1 billion Home Energy Saving Programme to increase fuel efficiency and help for vulnerable households.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said: "Since that announcement the Government has launched a major advertising campaign to encourage energy efficiency and advise people of the assistance available. This has resulted in almost 57,000 calls to our Act on CO2 helpline in the fortnight since the announcement. This is triple the number of calls normally received, so clearly people are responding to rising fuel bills.

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"I have met with energy suppliers and the home insulation industry to stress the need for all of us to work together as fast as possible to make more homes energy efficient, and to discuss with them the opportunities for bringing forward insulation activity so the maximum number of people are able to benefit this winter."

Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said: "It is the global demand for energy that is pushing up prices, but that is no comfort to the fuel poor who need support. That is why the Prime Minister launched the substantial energy efficiency package last month; it is why we have required supply companies to improve social tariffs and it is why winter fuel payments for elderly people will increase substantially later this year. It is intolerable that the vulnerable could suffer this winter. The Government is not complacent. We need to take action on many fronts."

(CD/JM)