Responding to the new energy bill announced in the Queen's Speech, Mike Hobday, Head of Campaigns at Macmillan Cancer Support said:

'Whilst the mandatory support from energy companies will help some vulnerable people struggling with their fuel bills, it is vital that cancer patients are not left out in the cold. Cancer patients undergoing treatment are twice as likely to fall into fuel poverty as the general population and must be included in any new support schemes.

'Cancer patients of all ages tell us they feel the cold more due to the effects of treatment and have to spend more time at home. During this time, their fuel bills soar whilst their household income has dropped.

'Cancer patients under 60 already miss out on the Government's Winter Fuel Payment, so excluding them again from this proposed help would be a double defeat.'

Notes

??  9.6% of the general (non-vulnerable) population are in fuel poverty, Department of Energy and Climate Change fuel poverty statistics, 2009. 19% of cancer patients undergoing treatment in the last year are in fuel poverty, Macmillan Cancer Support Online survey of 974 people with cancer, May 2009.

Macmillan defines cancer patients in need as those undergoing treatment in the past year, who are terminally ill, or in receipt of Council Tax Benefit or Housing Benefit.

Fuel poverty is defined as when a family needs to spend at least 10% of their income on heating and lighting their home.