Fund Cooling Equipment for Vulnerable Liverpool Families

 

Petition to Liverpool City Council and the UK Government

 

We call on Liverpool City Council and the UK Government to provide secure public funding for the Liverpool Citizens Support Scheme and to allow safe, energy-efficient air-conditioning units or equivalent home-cooling appliances to be supplied through its white-goods and household-essentials provision.

 

The Citizens Support Scheme already helps Liverpool residents experiencing crisis by providing food, fuel support, furniture and essential domestic appliances. As extreme heat becomes more frequent and intense, the meaning of an “essential household appliance” must change with our climate.

 

Why this matters

 

Many British homes were designed to retain heat rather than remain cool. During prolonged hot weather, bedrooms and living spaces can become unbearably warm, particularly in flats, poorly ventilated properties and homes where windows cannot safely be left open.

 

Fans can help with comfort, but they do not lower the temperature of a dangerously hot room. Families with babies and young children may need access to more effective cooling, yet a suitable portable air-conditioning unit—and the electricity required to run it—can be completely unaffordable for a household already struggling with food, rent and energy bills.

 

This is not about luxury. It is about making sure that a child’s safety does not depend on how much money their parents have.

 

UK Health Security Agency monitoring has recorded substantial numbers of heat-associated deaths during recent summers. An estimated 2,985 heat-associated deaths occurred during the five heat episodes of summer 2022—the highest annual figure in the monitoring series at that time. Even the comparatively cooler summer of 2024 included an episode associated with an estimated 394 deaths.

 

The health burden does not rise neatly every single year, because the severity and length of heat episodes vary. However, the longer-term direction is clear: extreme heat events are becoming more frequent, longer-lasting and more intense. The Met Office reports that the UK’s 1991–2020 climate was around 0.8°C warmer on average than 1961–1990, while average UK summer temperatures rose by more than 0.8°C between those periods. It has also estimated that heatwaves such as the summer 2018 event are now around 30 times more likely because of climate change.

 

The June 2026 heatwave has brought the issue into our homes again, with exceptionally high temperatures and warm nights making it difficult for buildings—and the people inside them—to cool down.

 

A letter from a Liverpool mother

 

I am the mother of a two-year-old boy. During this June 2026 heatwave, I have found myself worrying constantly about how to keep him cool and safe inside our home.

 

Like many mums, I check his room, touch his back and wonder whether he is too hot. I worry about whether he will sleep safely and whether I will recognise the signs if the heat begins to affect him. Opening windows or using an ordinary fan does not always make the room cool enough, especially when the air outside is also hot.

 

I know that I am not the only mother lying awake with these worries. Across Liverpool and the rest of Britain, parents are trying to protect babies and toddlers in homes that were never designed for prolonged extreme heat. We are doing our best, but care and love cannot lower the temperature of a dangerously hot room.

 

For some families, buying an air-conditioning unit is simply not an option. When there is barely enough money for food, rent or electricity, hundreds of pounds for cooling equipment is impossible. Parents should not be left feeling frightened and powerless because they cannot afford the appliance that could make their child’s bedroom safer.

 

I am asking decision-makers to listen to ordinary mums and families before this becomes an even greater public-health emergency. No parent should have to choose between paying an essential bill and protecting their child from dangerous heat.

 

What we are asking for

 

We ask Liverpool City Council and the UK Government to:

 

1. Allocate reliable, ring-fenced public funding to the Liverpool Citizens Support Scheme for climate-related household needs.

2. Recognise appropriate air-conditioning units, air coolers and other effective cooling appliances as essential domestic equipment during extreme heat.

3. Make this support available to eligible low-income households, prioritising families with babies and young children, disabled people, people with relevant medical conditions and residents in homes at high risk of overheating.

4. Include help with reasonable running costs, so families are not given an appliance they cannot afford to use.

5. Provide clear guidance on safe operation, energy efficiency, ventilation and avoiding overheating.

6. Develop a longer-term programme to improve insulation, shading and ventilation so that vulnerable households are protected in both winter and summer.

 

The Liverpool Citizens Support Scheme exists to help people remain safe and independent during times of crisis. Extreme indoor heat is now part of that reality.

 

Please sign this petition to ask Liverpool and national decision-makers to ensure that no family is left alone, frightened and unable to protect a young child simply because safe cooling is beyond their budget.