20/01/2014 Inside Out North East and Cumbria

In the next half an hour we have an energy special. Are you missing out

on Government help to keep your house warm? I have been to County

Durham to find out. I'm gutted. I'm shocked to see how much is coming

out. So basically I'm heating the street. Yes.

We take to the road with the teams cracking down on energy themes. We

have come to inspect the gas meter. It doesn't seem to be moving. It has

teeth that have been taken off so only a fraction of the gas is

recorded. We challenge two northern families to see how much they can

save on their fuel bills. A lot of electricity going on in here. How

often do you use the tumble drier? Average, three times a day. This is

Inside Out. It is cold. It is dark. So I hope

you're watching this somewhere snug. Last year, an extra 31,000 people

died due to the winter cold. That's the highest figure for four years.

Fuel bills are on the up so for some that means it is cold inside as well

as out. Tonight, we put homes in County

Durham, one of the north's fuel poverty black spots to the test and

ask are we getting enough help to stay warm?

There is a grave danger of your electricity being cut because you

are using too much at home during peak hours. An old message given a

new residence by rocketing fuel bills. Do try and cut it down,

please. 51,000 households in County Durham

are in fuel poverty. It means they earn than ?16,000 a year and spend

over ?1200 on energy. It is claimed one of the main reasons for fuel

poverty is cold, leaky homes. Is that true? Surely after years of

lagging lofts and draft proofing doors that's a thing of the past.

Well, we're putting houses in County Durham to the test to find out.

Neville Parade, using an infrared camera, we map heat lost through bad

insulation. They are the reds and yellows on screen. There is a

problem. Time to tell the householder. Is your place difficult

to heat? It is very difficult. We might have spotted where it is

coming out of your house. Do you want to look? Yeah, I wouldn't mind.

Come and have a look. The yellows and the whites and the reds so you

can see around the windows, there is lots of yellow. Increased

temperature here and the glazing itself. I don't know what to say,

you know. It's shocking. Sharon's ground floor flat has no insulation.

The yellow shows the heat leaking through its wall, of ?71 she gets on

Jobseeker's alounsance, for than a third goes on energy. I pay top

whack. You are either cold or hungry or sometimes I'm both. I only put

the gas on to warm the house up. Like the boiler on an

hour`and`a`half a day. The energy companies must provide financial

help to low income customers. Sharon probably qualifies for warm home

discount, ?135 off her electricity bills. Vulnerable pensioners get it

automatically, but people like Sharon must apply for it. How does

that make you feel knowing there is this money available, but you didn't

know? Stupid. I could put the heating on for a couple more hours

instead of an hour`and`a`half. The Government has a scheme to insulate

homes like Sharon's by could slash fuel bills. Houses on the same

street, the yellow ones are uninsulated, the but ones insulated.

It is claimed the Government scheme to insulate the homes of those in

fuel poverty isn't enough. It is not meeting the scale of the problem. We

are urging them to bring forward much higher levels of funding to

help us really drive home the energy efficiency measures that are needed.

The Government disagrees. Last autumn, the Chancellor announced

more funding and it was extending it out to 2017. We have got a five year

programme. That's the longest we have ever seen an insulation

programme like this. In County Durham, more and more

people are going back to old`fashioned coal, they are so

desperate to reduce bills. Coal merchants are doing a roaring trade.

The fires give out a good heat in the house. They don't have to use as

much central heating. The costs are being cut by half.

The bomb houses built for workers. They have solid, concrete, walls and

floors and flat roofs. A lot of red above the window. There is a big red

patch. It could be a radiator or something. That's money that's being

wasted easily? Yeah. We have got bad news to deliver. Janice works

part`time and gets less than ?250 a week. ?25 go on heating much of it

leaking through the red walls. There does seem to be a lot of reds and

yellows. So basically, I'm heating the street? Yes, effectively. I'm

gutted. I'm shocked to see how much is coming out. Inside, Janice's home

is plagued by drafts shown by the blue. That's shocking are, isn't it?

When it is windy, the blinds move. Black mould is a problem. There are

plans to insulate the houses, but Janice may qualify for Warm Home

Discount, but... No, I never heard of that. Nobody told us about it.

A pattern emerges. Many who may qualify haven't heard of it. Those

who have, often have problems getting it. I have applied several

times. I haven't got it yet. I am just keeping my fingers crossed.

Even the energy suppliers, who pay it, appear confused. We asked the

big six how many customers in Durham were eligible to claim Warm Home

Discount, NPower had figures. It estimates between 6,500 and 9,500 of

its customers are part of the group eligible for WHD. But over half

claim it. If that was typical for all energy companies then between

19,000 and 20,000 households in Durham could be moving out. The

Government are not much help. I asked the Department for Work and

Pensions who ensures people get it? And who monitors the take`up rate?

Try the Department of the Environment they said. Not us said

environment. Try the department for energy and climate change. Don't

think so said Energy. Try the Department for Work and Pensions. So

back to square one. In fact, I never got a straight answer. It is

shocking, but the real problem has been that there has been a lack of

action on the ground by local councils to promote the scheme. They

have all that information, but certainly in County Durham and I

imagine across the rest of the north`east, not enough has been done

to promote that. We refute that. As a council we have got a fantastic

record of assisting people in energy efficiency. In the last four years,

we have helped over 54,000 residents with energy efficiency.

It is claimed the real problem is Government which appears confused

and could pay WHD automatically, not just to pensioners, but to everyone

who qualifies. It does say something about the way this is happening. If

the Government departments don't know who is responsible for this?

Well, I'm clear that we are managing this with DWP, but the fact of the

matter is over half of the people who will benefit from the Warm Home

Discount will not have to take action. Why not give it

automatically to those who qualify rather than people having to apply?

Where it is clear cut. Many of the hundreds of pensioners that qualify,

they automatically get it. That's easy, if you are above 65 that's

indisputable. There are over people whose circumstances are slightly

different to that, people with children, or disabilities, things

that can change. Children can grow up. People who are ill can get

better hopefully. So where there are variable circumstances, it is more

tricky, but we are trying it make it as simple as possible and I hope

this year more people than ever will get it automatically.

The Government has a target to eliminate fuel poverty by 2016. We

have highlighted some measures that could help. Critics say as energy

prices rise the target won't be reached. We will soon find out.

If you want to find out if you are eligible for help with your energy

bills, just check out the blog: As the row over energy prices grows

heated, an increasing number of people are choosing to steal their

gas and electricity. Now for some, it boils down to being cash strapped

and desperate, but others are happy to cheat the system while living the

high life. In this exclusive report for Inside Out, Mark Jordan joins

the enforcement teams as they hunt down the power thieves.

Energy prices are making headlines as our bills hit an all time high.

Honest households pay up, but ?30 a year of our bill is paying for

stolen power. The meter has been interfered with because it has a

fake seal. This is the story of the power thieves and the people who

track them down. The British Gas training academy in

Leicester. Here engineers learn how to spot tampering of gas and

electric supply. It has never been more needed. A difficult economic

climate equals more people feeling this is the only way they can get

their energy. I feel the trend is upwards.

For the next few days, I am riding along with Pierce and mall olm. The

most bizarre case I have dealt with is a nursing home. When we caught

him, it cost him ?25,000. This morning's call is for smaller fry.

The first three we have got are domestic. A routine meter reading

discovered a single mother of three tampering with her gas meter. There

is what appears to be a cooker hose at the time that replaced that gas

meter. Even with gas central heating, they

only paid ?15 last year. How many people live in the property? My mum

and two sisters and myself. The meter is back, but hasn't been

installed and because the mother has children she is considered

vulnerable and can't be cut off. This one will go to the police and

we try to trace back who is doing this? We find trends of where people

are going around estates and tampering with the same meters in

the same way. These people will charge a range, we have heard from

?10 up to ?500 a time. They can do ten to 15 a day. This they are not

putting themselves at risk. If something happened, it is everyone

in the ajoining properties who will be affected by a potential

explosion. Is the scene that people woke up to this morning. Gas

explosions can be deadly. A suspected gas explosion. In

Sheffield last year, this house was blown apart. No one died. But it is

a chilling reminder of the dangers of gas. The damage of that explosion

was so great that authorities were never able to pinpoint the exact

cause. Emergency services were worried about other dangers so they

decided to conduct a test. The police were on site and the networks

were on site and they asked us to whether or not we felt it was right

to have a look at the other supplies in the street and yes, from looking

at about 20 houses in a single terraced street sure enough we find

five gas thefts and two electricity thefts.

It is a great example of what the scale of the issue is. Little shocks

Mark, he has seen all sorts of dangerous ways of stealing power.

This is one that really impacts on safety. A bicycle in a tube and they

have used it to bridge their gas meter so instead of gas meter being

here, this tube would be across here like that.

We have come here to inspect the electricity meter, OK?

This flat's bill of just ?5 for last year led them to find this dangerous

by`pass. Malcolm prepares evidence for prosecution and the bill for

years of stolen electricity. It was back billed from 2008 from when the

account started. It is going to be a big bill? It will be, yes. Hard up

and hard times may drive some, but we are in a rich part of Essex.

Homes here sl for over ?1 million. But the team have a tip`off with an

eight bedroomed mansion with ?300,000 worth of cars on the

forecourt, but the house is suspiciously energy efficient. Can I

come in to have a look to see what you have got? Where is the light

switch for this room here? Within minutes, the power to most of the

house goes off. My suspicion is that all the back of that house and that

garage is off an unmetered supply which they have switched off. But

where to look for the illegal supply? I am just looking to see if

any of it has been taken up recently. The owners insist the only

meters are the ones outside, but an hour`and`a`half into the search,

Pierce finds another supply. I can see the pipe. Another electricity

meter. Moments later... There we have

another gas meter. All the powe be it gas or electricity used through

these meters is not being billed it appears so they are getting it for

free, for now. Soon it is a mansion without power. The illegal supply is

cut off. It won't be restored until an estimated ?6,000 of stolen energy

is paid for. These people can afford to pay for their energy and yet they

are not. Theft is being made all the easier by the internet. There you

go. It's going slow now. Video guides on stealing energy. A new

local scam can go global in days. It is a cat and mouse game, close one

scam and another quickly opens. The latest comes from Chinese dmaount

newspapers. They open `` community newspapers. They openly advertise

numbers for someone to come around and meddle with your meter. Take

control of your meters with this super money saving device. It is

suitable for takeaways and restaurants and households. That

Chinese scam has spread across Britain. We are from British Gas. We

have come to inspect the gas meter. Pierce and Malcolm think they have

found it in this fish and chip shop. It doesn't seem to be moving. We are

going to take that meter and cut off the gas.

Pierce unravels the crude scam from China that's being uncovered in

restaurants across Britain. Remove that. Now, I am going to remove the

index mechanism. He exposes the cogs that drive the meter mechanism, it

is the moment of truth. I don't know if you can see that, it has got

teeth that have been taken off. Cut off half the teeth and a you halve

the bill. This one has just a single tooth left. So only a fraction of

the gas has been recorded on that index and you don't know anything

about it? You don't know when that could have happened or who could

have done it? Malcolm produces an estimated bill. It is ?1782 for the

past four months. Can you pay that now? Otherwise, I have got to tell

the eng meres to make sure `` engineers to make sure that supply

is capped off and we will walk away with the meter. They can only charge

for the few months he has been with British Gas. This detective warns

that thieves keep changing supplier. If you can just change supplier

easily as it is now. If you get abstracting electricity from one

company, you can leave and go to another one. This is the problem. If

you say to them there is ?1 million of electricity being extracted from

your company, their income will be the same because that ?1 million

loss will be spread overall the honest bill paying customers so they

have lost nothing. Back at the chip shop, the owner's credit card means

this is one bill we won't be picking up. Immunity from prosecution, not

included. There is one area of power theft

where police, not power companies, take the lead. Nationwide police

uncover over 20 cannabis farms a day. Most stealing their

electricity. Essex Police raid up to six a week.

It is thought a third of the electricity stolen in Britain goes

on cannabis farms. So they follow the wires around the

house and they think that this electricity is being stolen from the

neighbours. Power theft. Whether on cannabis farms or on the chip shop,

it is booming and unless detected, we get the bill. The total invoice

amount is ?7702. Catching the thieves is costly. Few will ever see

prison. Here, cheeky enough to ask for a discount! We don't offer

discount. The lights may go out, but the bill is still on us. Put the

electricity on. OK. So are there legitimate ways to cut

the cost of energy? The answer maybe quite simple. Michelle Ackerley

challenged two northern families to see if some careful housekeeping

might just do the trick. Millions of people facing higher energy bills

after one of the big firms puts up prices. From next month... It is the

story of the moment, frightening headlines about the spiralling cost

of our energy bills. If like me, you are worried about how to meet the

price rises don't panic. I'm going to show you how to save hundreds of

pounds on the bills. Cuddle up. Keep warm. Take note! I am going to set

two families against other, it is a north`east, north`west competition

to see who can save the most from their electricity bills? First up,

the Clodes from Cumbria. Ruby, the cocker spaniel, mum and dad,

11`year`old Ethan and Gracie who is nine. The headlines have forced Debs

to have a re`think. I have had my estimate in for what my next year's

bill is going to be and enough is enough. They live in a four

bedroomed house and spend ?225 on gas and electricity. Debs, what have

we got? Freezer. Washing machine. Tumble drier. Ice making machine. An

ice making machine? An ice making machine and another fridge. A lot of

electricity going on in here. How often do you use the tumble drier?

Average, three times a day. I notice, we just walked into this

room and the TV was on, but no one is in the room. Children.

Under floor heating on. How often do you have this on? All day. All day?

Yeah. The only reason it is on all day, I don't know how to programme

it to go off. This is not good. This is an energy hungry family, even

Ruby uses electricity. How is Ruby going to be involved? When we go out

to work, we leave the radio on for Ruby so she has company. She can

have Jeremy Vine on from 8am to 3pm. How is our competition going to

work? We have got the gadgets to measure how much it is costing. It

is a competition between two families, the Cumbrians against the

Geordies, do you think you are going to win it? Yes, we will try our

hardest. Well, I will see you in a week. Good luck with it. Thank you.

Next up, the Geordies, the Hayley family. This is another energy

guzzling house with bills of ?250 a month. There is a lot lights in the

houses. There is a lot of power being used. A lot of wasted stuff as

well, I think. Take me through the gadgets IPads, iPods, I everything!

I have been known to get to work and realise that I haven't switch them

off and had to ring somebody up to go and switch them off. This is a

big TV, isn't it, David? Yeah, it is a descent sized, yeah. It uses a lot

of power. There is just so much going on that I hadn't realised it

draws so much power. It is just eating up energy. What's the plan to

do with this? When we are out, this stuff is working away, but it is on

stand`by and using power. I think we will be using a timer. How often do

you use the tumble drier? We use this probably once a week, all day

on a Sunday. All day? Yeah. It goes from first thing in the morning

through the rest of the day. Do you guys think you can win? Without a

shadow of the a doubt, yeah. In fact, switch that camera off! The

challenge has been set. Are you turning off the lights up stairs?

It is Jeremy Vine here on Radio 2 saying hello to Ruby in Cumbria!

I know you are asking who is Ruby? Her dad is working out how much it

costs to run her radio? The clod family are radio on just for you. It

costs 2.3 pence per day. I think we can leave the radio on for Ruby. It

has been a week since I saw my two families, I am back to see how much

money they have saved and I have brought a friend along. Catherine

Duggan from the Energy Saving Trust. It is just as well she has come. Her

advice is badly needed. Your electricity use has gone up and it

has gone up by a considerable amount. And this could be one of the

main culprits. A lovely tree, Debs. How many sets of lights? Four sets

of 400. 400 lights on one tree. This is great. Over your fireplace you

have the new modern LED lights. You can save 85% by using that much less

electricity. The LED compared to the traditional. Debs has not worked out

the timer for the underfloor heating in the bathroom. She does have a

money saving plan for her washing. I have purchased a pulley, an old

maiden's pulley. That's going to go up in the ceiling. If we have got

the heating on, it will generate enough heat for the clothes to be

dry within 24 hours. Even if you did half the time then I think you will

see a massive saving when we come back. That's my biggest down fall.

In the north`east, electricity consumption has been going the wrong

way. Plasma TVs on a smaller scale so maybe half the size would cost

?95 a month to run with electricity. Switching two an LCD TV would knock

two`thirds of that bill off. David has promised to fit a timer to his

monster TV. Washing on 30 degrees can bring the cost down. In the

bathroom, there is a big saving to be made. My son likes to be in the

shower longer than I. What a lot of people don't realise is within one

day, if someone saved off one `` shaved off one minute per shower per

se, that's ?15 off someone's energy bill per year. And back to see if

they have listened. Do you think you have won the challenge? I would like

to think we have. The drier has done it. Yeah, the tumble drier doesn't

get used anymore. I would love to think we have beaten the other

family. I'm trying to read your face and I'm not sure. Unfortunately, you

have lost. A h, no. You haven't managed to save enough energy. You

guys won. Get in. Get it. How do you feel about that? That's great.

Perhaps we will turn the underfloodlight heating off in the

`` underfloor heating off in the summer.

When you start to think about that annual amount, it does mount up. It

does make a difference. That's a significant saving actually.

Congratulations to you and your family and keep it up. Thank you and

the Geordies have won. Acting on those simple tips and being

thoughtful, you too, could save yourself hundreds of pounds. Why not

give it a go? Some food for thought there, I hope.

It is time I headed off and found somewhere nice and warm.

Next week, can HMS Illustrious return home to Tyneside? I will see

you next Monday. Until then, from Newcastle, good night.

Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with your 90-second update.

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