The Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) well monitored distributive trades survey dropped sharply in November, with 62 per cent retailers reporting lower sales as compared to a year ago.

Since only 16 per cent reported a rise in sales, the survey's balance of negative 46 per cent is a substantial drop from the negative 27 per cent in October 2008. What's worse is that the Christmas shopping season is unlikely to buoy the sentiment, a balance of negative 40 per cent anticipating a strong fall in year-on-year sales.

the survey predicts that a balance of 37 per cent foresee the retail sector deteriorating over the next three months, prompting around 57 per cent of companies to cut expenditure, the largest chunk to do so since the survey started in 1983.

Though retailers selling to the housing market were among the worst hit, sharp declines were visible in sales in groceries as well. Footwear and leather were the only sectors to report sales growth.

Andy Clarke, chairman of the CBI distributive trades panel, and retail director at online retailer Asda said that Christmas would be ''extremely tough'', and retailers would have to work harder to ''keep the tills ringing''. Moreover, he added that another stress point for retailers would be to change millions of prices to take into account the cut in VAT, which will be both tedious and costly.

Reports suggested that economists were still not convinced that the VAT cut announced by the Chancellor as part of the pre-Budget report would be adequate to get consumers spending again. They said that though the VAT cut and the widespread price discounting would be incentives for people to start spending, it was doubtful that they would part with cash given that unemployment is rising, and credit is also hard to come by.

Big ticket items like consumer durables, furniture, carpets and DIY have seen the hardest impact. Department store chain John Lewis was reported to have said that their sales were down 13.3 per cent during the week to 22 November, as against data from a year ago.

The Chancellor has revised downward the VAT from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent, a move that economists say is inadequate to revive consumer spending, as is evident from revelations in the CBI survey and latest John Lewis sales data.

Thus far the week has been rather miserable for retailers in the UK, with both MFI and Woolworths calling in administrators. B&Q-owner Kingfisher announced third-quarter sales lower by nine per cent.

Fuel poverty next big concern
Other reports suggest that thousands of pensioners are facing the risk of death on account of not being able to afford to heat their homes, citing charities for the elderly. The reports come against the back drop of official data that says the number of "excess winter deaths" in England and Wales increased by seven per cent between December 2007 and March 2008, against data from a year ago.

Excess winter deaths record how many additional deaths occur during the winter, as compared to other months of the year.

Data from the Office for National Statistics said that 25,300 more people died last winter, seven per cent higher than the 23,740 from the year before. Moreover, the vast majority of these, 23,200 were seniors aged over 65.

Campaigners are now saying that the number of elderly at risk from dying from cold and cold-related illnesses is likely to sore, as the coming winter is predicted to be one of the coldest in years. According to the World Health Organisation, the UK ranks the highest in terms of excess winter deaths in Europe, higher than Finland, Denmark and Austria that generally see more severe winters.

Reports quoted Joe Harris of the National Pensioners Convention as saying that since 1997, the UK has lost over 260,000 pensioners during the winter months on account of cold related illnesses. He said that given the rising fuel bills, pensioners are constantly worried about whether or not they can afford to put their heating on.

Reports also said that a third of pensioner households, numbering around 2.75 million, live in fuel poverty, a situation where a tenth or more of a household's income is spent on fuel bills. They said that energy suppliers increased prices by an average of 42 per cent this year, increasing the household's average annual bill to £1,300. Quoting Age Concern, amongst England's largest charities working for older people, reports said that two-thirds of pensioners have reduced consumption of gas and electricity, on account of fear of being handed enormous energy bills they can ill – afford to pay.

Though campaigners say the government has not done enough, for his part, Chancellor Alistair Darling announced that pensioners would receive a one-off payment of £60 in January. Pensioner households in the UK also get a winter fuel allowance of £250, which is increased to £400 if the resident is aged over 80.

Darling also promised an additional £100 million funding for Warm Front, the government's flagship fuel poverty scheme. The scheme offers the most vulnerable households up to £2,700 for energy-efficiency measures, including double glazing, a new boiler, or insulation.

Campaigners argue that more is needed to protect the most vulnerable older people from cold-related illnesses and death this winter, saying more crisis payments for older people struggling to heat their homes this Christmas were necessary. They argue that while billions have been spent to save financial institutions, ''surely some can be spared to save our older people.''