Budget Archives - Page 2 of 4 - End Fuel Poverty Coalition

Winter fuel payment cuts set to hit 84% of disabled pensioners

Over four-fifths (84%) of older people with a long-term health condition or disability claim they will no longer get Winter Fuel Payments according to new research. [1]

The figures, reported in the Daily Express, suggest that one in five (19%*) people who have long-term health conditions or disabilities, are over 66 and say they will no longer likely get Winter Fuel Payments claim that they are worried about their own safety because of the risks of living in a cold damp home this winter. This compares with 17% of the general public and 14% of all over 65s.

The figures* also indicate that those respondents who claim they are no longer eligible for Winter Fuel Payments and have a physical disability are more likely to live in a home that is often cold and damp than the general population.

81% of older people who are already worried about cold and damp in their own homes claim they will not get Winter Fuel Payments.

While owner occupiers are most likely to no longer get Winter Fuel Payments, 77% of older people who rent will miss out, with those in social housing* especially affected by the cuts.

Commenting on the figures, a spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, commented:

“The data is yet another warning sign. The indications are that older people who no longer get the Winter Fuel Payment are more likely to suffer in cold damp homes this winter than the general public.

“For those pensioners with a physical disability, the situation is potentially even worse. Many do not have access to the means tested benefits needed to claim the Winter Fuel Payment and the Government must urgently assess the impact on this group in particular and provide more support for them.

“Until the Government fully implements its plans to improve insulation and ventilation of buildings as well as stabilise energy costs, vulnerable households will continue to need financial support.

“That’s why the Winter Fuel Payments were so important. The money provided help for older households to stay warm each winter. Sadly, now more older people are expected to live in cold damp homes this winter and this puts them at greater risk of ill health, with over quarter of a million older people becoming so ill they will be forced to the doors of the NHS.”

James Taylor, Scope’s executive director of strategy and social change, said:

“These findings are a shocking indictment of a plan that will leave older disabled people in an impossible situation this winter.

“Life already costs more when you’re disabled. Higher electricity bills because of medical equipment to power. Higher heating bills because of health conditions affected by the cold.

“Since the start of this crisis, we’ve heard from disabled people who are going without heating and forgoing medical treatment. Sacrifices that put their health at risk.

“While some disabled pensioners receive pension credit, there are an alarming number who will miss out this winter. We’d urge anyone who thinks they could be eligible to apply, or to get in touch with our helpline for advice.

“We desperately need a longer-term solution for the eye-watering energy costs many disabled people face, which is why we’re calling for the government to bring in discounted bills for disabled households.”

ENDS

[1] Winter Fuel Payment research by Opinium (undertaken 7-8 Oct 2024, sample of 2,014, weighted to be politically and nationally representative).

Among respondents aged over 66, 88% say they do not receive a qualifying benefit and, therefore, will no longer get the Winter Fuel Payment in winter 2024/25. 2% preferred not to answer or did not know, leaving 10% saying they are on a qualifying benefit.

2024 voting behaviour

90% of Labour voters aged over 66 claim they will no longer get the Winter Fuel Payment

89% of Conservative voters aged over 66 claim they will no longer get the Winter Fuel Payment

96% of Lib Dem voters aged over 66 claim they will no longer get the Winter Fuel Payment*

80% of Reform voters aged over 66 claim they will no longer get the Winter Fuel Payment

Region

93% of Scots aged over 66 claim they will no longer get the Winter Fuel Payment*

91% of people aged over 66 and living in southern England claim they will no longer get the Winter Fuel Payment

88% of people aged over 66 and living in London claim they will no longer get the Winter Fuel Payment*

87% of people aged over 66 and living in the English Midlands claim they will no longer get the Winter Fuel Payment

85% of people aged over 66 and living in northern England claim they will no longer get the Winter Fuel Payment

81% of people aged over 66 and living in Wales or Northern Ireland claim they will no longer get the Winter Fuel Payment*

* indicates that the base sample is below 50 and caution should be taken in using or reporting on this figure with more detailed research required to confirm the findings.

Ministers unveil plans to help renters, but winter fuel payments axe stays

The Energy Secretary has announced a plan to ensure warm homes for all renters – in both private and social rented housing – in his speech to Labour’s annual conference.

What ministers claim is the “biggest boost to home energy standards in history” follows the Deputy Prime Minister’s confirmation of a raft of measures to ensure good quality homes for all.

Under the plans, landlords will be banned from renting out properties that don’t meet stricter energy efficiency standards.

Caroline Simpson, Warm This Winter campaign spokesperson, said:

“This is very welcome news. UK properties are some of the worst insulated in Europe, with millions of Brits currently condemned to living in cold, damp, mouldy homes they can’t afford to heat. With energy bills still 65% more than they were at the start of the energy crisis, home insulation is the quickest way to bring down bills, but is seldom prioritised by landlords.

“The government must now ensure the private rented sector meets its obligations to tenants, as well as ring fencing funding for local authorities to make these promised energy efficiency upgrades a reality for those living in social housing.”

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition commented:

“People in rented accommodation are almost twice as likely to live in cold damp homes compared with people who own their own properties. [1]

“The Energy Secretary is to be congratulated for recognising the importance of the need for better energy efficiency standards in rented homes, but the Government shouldn’t drag their heels with more consultations.

“This issue has been consulted on widely in the past and Ministers must move to take action. There is no time to waste as improvements will take months or years to be felt by tenants and the longer it takes, the more support households will need to stay warm in the winter.

“That’s why right now we also need to see the Government revoke cuts to the winter fuel payment for this year and commit to more support for vulnerable households so that everybody can stay warm this winter and next.”

However, in her speech, Rachel Reeves refused to back down on plans to cut Winter Fuel Payments from 1.2m pensioners in absolute poverty and for 1.6m older people with disabilities.

An End Fuel Poverty Coalition spokesperson added:

“The Chancellor doubled down on her gamble with older people’s lives to fill a budgetary black hole, which according to reports is £10bn less than was initially claimed. And that’s before the Government takes receipt of the £3bn which it is recovering from the collapse of one of the energy firms.

“While Rachael Reeves tries to claim that the triple lock on pensions is enough to replace Winter Fuel Payments, personal finance experts point out that the rise starts next April, when pensioners face an energy bills crisis now. Equally, there are up to 800,000 of the poorest pensioners who get less than the full state pension and don’t even get Pension Credit.

“And of course, the full rise only applies to the one in four pensioners who get the ‘new’ state pension.”

ENDS

[1] Research by Opinium for Warm This Winter campaign among a representative sample of 2,000 UK adults in November 2023 found 13% of those who own outright and 12% of those who own with a mortgage live in cold damp homes. This compares with 25% of those who live in a private rented home, 23% rented from a local authority and 19% rented from a housing association.

Letter to the Chancellor on Winter Fuel Payments

Charities have written to Chancellor, Rachel Reeves MP, to set out the challenge now faced by pensioners this winter and ask the Government to reconsider its plans to axe Winter Fuel Payments.

The full text of the letter is below.

To:

Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer

Copied to:

Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

Rt Hon Liz Kendall MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Rt Hon Darren Jones MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Miatta Fahnbulleh MP, Minister for Energy Consumers

Monday 5 August 2024

Dear Chancellor,

The Winter Fuel Payment to pensioners has been a settled part of support to help older people stay warm each winter for years.

The decision to remove the Payment to all but a small minority of pensioners will see millions more older people face the prospect of spending this winter in cold damp homes.

This has the potential to create a public health emergency. The impact of living in cold damp homes is particularly harsh on those older people with a disability, a long term health condition or with poor mental health.

It results in these people turning to an NHS that is already under stress and in some cases, can result in additional winter deaths.

We understand the arguments for means testing the benefit, but the approach you have taken is the wrong one.

We urge you to rapidly consult with consumer groups to broaden the targeting of the Winter Fuel Payment, to introduce support to end energy debt, expand the Warm Home Discount and extend the Household Support Fund.

For the medium term, we recommend that the Government reforms standing charges and consults on how a social tariff could protect the most vulnerable in society from the cost of energy.

We have publicly commended the Government in taking some of the long term measures to tackle high energy bills, such as the drive for more renewable energy and a Warm Homes Plan. But these solutions will take time to bring down bills.

Energy bills are due to increase further on 1 October, meaning that a pensioner who no longer receives Winter Fuel Payment, will experience a real-terms increase in their energy bills of up to 15% in winter 2024/25 compared to winter 2023/24.

Unless we see urgent action from the Government to keep people warm this winter, one of the first actions of the new Government will be to condemn more vulnerable households to fuel poverty.

We would be happy to meet with you to discuss this further.

Yours sincerely,

End Fuel Poverty Coalition

Disability Poverty Campaign Group

Fuel Poverty Action

National Pensioners’ Convention

Disability Rights UK

Warm This Winter

350.org

Community Action Northumberland

Advice for Renters

Fairer Housing

Scope

Green Rose CIC

MND Association

The Printing Charity

VOICES ADFOCAD

Surrey Coalition of Disabled People

Bringing Us Together

Independent Age

Agewell CIC

Adult Social Care Warriors

Zero Hour

The Working Class Climate Alliance

38 Degrees

High Peak Green New Deal

Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG)

Community Housing Cymru

Hackney Foodbank

Equal Right

Global Witness

Harrow Association of Disabled people (HAD)

Bristol Reclaiming Independent Living

WinVisible (women with visible & invisible disabilities)

The Climate Coalition

Community Money Advice

Climate Cymru

Clynfyw Care Farm

Stop Climate Chaos Cymru

Pontypridd Land Society

Awel Amen Tawe

Cardiff Quakers

Ffynnone Community Resilience

Climate and Community

Tir Natur

Egni Cooperative

The Coproduction Network for Wales

Climate Shop

Gwyrddni

The One Planet Centre

The Mentor Ring

Sustainable Wales

Datblygiadau Egni Gwledig

XR Cardigan

Friends of the Earth

Medact

Image Credit: Martin Suker / Shutterstock

Reaction to Spring 2024 Budget

The latest financial statement from the Chancellor failed to meet in full any of the recommendations set out by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition in its budget submission.

While the energy firms Windfall Tax and the Household Support Fund were both extended for limited periods, other support measures end on the 31 March.

The budget also contained no new funding for energy efficiency support.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition commented:

“What we needed from the Chancellor was a long term plan for warm homes and cheaper energy, but instead the government has condemned families to another winter in cold homes and has failed to fund reform to Britain’s broken energy system.

“The government is pulling the plug on support for households in fuel poverty. The Energy Price Guarantee and the cost of living payments now join the Energy Bills Support Scheme on a bonfire of policies that were helping people with surging energy bills. The Household Support Fund will be extended, but only for another 6 months – ending before next winter sets in.

“But as this support is axed, the price households pay for their energy is still 60% higher than in 2021 and levels of energy debt are soaring. Meanwhile the wider cost of living crisis means people simply can’t afford to keep the lights on.

“While the extension of the Windfall Tax is a recognition that the energy crisis is not over, economists estimate that it has actually shaved £18bn off the cost of extracting fossil fuels over next three years by increasing energy firms’ tax relief allowances. This loophole must be closed.”

Jonathan Bean, from Fuel Poverty Action added:

“Removing the loopholes in windfall taxes on huge energy firm profits would fund essential energy for all.“

Warm This Winter spokesperson Fiona Waters said:

“Today’s budget is a waste of energy that will still leave millions out in the cold.

“There’s some cold comfort in the extension of the Housing Support Fund but it will barely make a dent in the huge debt ordinary people have now built up as they struggle to pay sky high bills that are still 60% more than three years ago.

“Families, pensioners, children and the poor are freezing as energy companies make a billion pounds in profit each and every week.”

Will Walker from Warm This Winter campaign members Ashden, commented on X that the budget was “barren” and that:

“Unfortunately, what we’ve seen over the last decade from Government is dither, delay and division on net zero. This has undermined business and investor confidence, weakened supply chains and added to UK energy bills.”

Joanna Elson CBE, chief executive of Independent Age, said:

“Today’s Budget was a missed opportunity to help those in later life already living in financial hardship and address the incoming pensioner poverty surge. Cutting National Insurance won’t help the more than 2 million older people living in poverty, or the many more living with precarious finances struggling to make ends meet. Transformative change is needed to improve their lives.

“While the lower energy price cap and the increased State Pension are welcome, there is still a long way to go for older people in financial insecurity to be able to afford even the basics. Bills are still astronomically high, and our helpline hears daily from older people rationing themselves to just one meal a day and washing in cold water to save energy.

“The cost-of-living payments have ended and older people in financial hardship are already at breaking point. While the temporary extension of the Household Support Fund is welcome, long-term solutions are needed to protect them from high household costs. The UK Government needs to introduce a single energy social tariff and water social tariff. This would help shield people of all ages living on a low income, including older people, from high and unmanageable costs.

“Today, the UK Government reiterated its commitment to uprate Pension Credit, but it must now implement a strategic and targeted plan to get this money into eligible pockets. As the latest figures show that up to 880,000 households missed out, an uptake strategy is urgently needed to target those who need financial support but aren’t aware it exists or don’t know they are eligible.

“Pensioner poverty has been steadily rising since 2012. Sadly, nothing announced today will reverse this alarming trend. That’s why we need a cross-party review to establish an adequate minimum level of income needed to avoid poverty in later life. Until that happens, we risk seeing more older people fall into financial hardship.”

Image credit: Warm This Winter / © Jess Hurd

Energy bills still set to rise despite Budget

Energy bills are calculated to rise by £285 a year for the coming financial year 2023/24 according to ECIU.

This is despite a Government u-turn on the Energy Price Guarantee which was due to increase bills even further from 1 April.

Meanwhile, calculations show that combined household energy debt could exceed £2.7bn by the end of June 2023.

Other inequalities in the energy market remain with customers paying by standard credit (i.e. paying by cash, cheque or bank transfer) will pay £202 a year more than those on direct debit or pre-payment meter.

Meanwhile some regions, such as Merseyside and North Wales will pay 6.7% more for the electricity than others, such as those in the East Midlands.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition commented:

“Despite government support and falling wholesale prices, every household will pay more for their energy this coming financial year than they do at the moment. That’s due to how the energy pricing system works and expected reduced levels of support from the Government.

“This is coupled with soaring food prices and transport costs and no end in sight to the cost of living crisis.

“We need further action to provide energy debt relief to get households onto even keel and long term changes to Britain’s broken energy system. This includes tariff reform and rapid improvements to energy efficiency of housing to ensure we never again see an energy bills crisis.”

Tessa Khan from Uplift, which is part of the Warm This Winter campaign, commented:

“If the Chancellor wants to boost growth he needed to tackle the energy crisis for the long term and he hasn’t.

“Energy bills will still rise, albeit by not quite as much, meaning millions of households will continue to live in fuel poverty. From July, the average household is still set to pay double what they were in 2021.

“Crucially, there is no long term plan here to fix the UK’s broken energy system for good: no support from upgrading homes, nothing to accelerate renewables to shift the UK away from volatile fossil fuels as is happening in other countries.

“While the Chancellor might like to think the energy crisis is over, for so many households and businesses unaffordable energy bills are still a painful reality.”

National Energy Action predict that the number of households in fuel poverty will grow to 7.5m as a result of the Budget announcement.

Graham Duxbury, Chief Executive of Groundwork UK, said:

“We are glad to see the government extending support with energy bills for a further three months and taking steps to tackle the injustice of higher costs for people on pre-payment meters.

“However, more needs to be done to ensure everyone is able to access the energy they need to stay warm and well. Even with government support in place, our Green Doctor energy advisors have been shocked by the level of hardship households have experienced this winter.

“To avoid people suffering unnecessarily in the winters to come, we need a radical plan to eliminate fuel poverty, through increasing the energy efficiency of homes, providing better coordinated advice to the most vulnerable energy users, and investing in the skills and jobs we need to transform our energy infrastructure.

“Doing this is vital to preventing the worst effects of climate change, reducing health inequalities and creating more prosperous communities.”

Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) chief executive, Gavin Smart said:

“We’re pleased to see the government taking action to support people with high energy bills, by bringing charges for pre-payment meters in line with direct debit customers and extending the current Energy Price Guarantee at the current rate for a further three months. CIH called for this as part of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition. We would however have liked to have seen more support for energy efficiency measures, helping to tackle some of the root causes of current energy pressures.

“Housing was notable by its absence. We are disappointed that the Chancellor did not use this opportunity to restore local housing allowance to the 30th percentile, as we and others had called for. The decision to leave rates frozen at 2020 levels means the affordability gap for private renters will continue to grow, resulting in increased evictions and homelessness. We would urge government to urgently look again at this, particularly given its commitments on homelessness prevention.

“We note that various changes were announced on welfare. We await the details in this in the forthcoming White Paper and will provide further briefing for members on Budget announcements over the coming days.”

Call for social tariff as a quarter of old people live in cold homes

New research by Age UK shows that a quarter (24 per cent) of over-60s are living in homes which are colder than they would like them to be, rising to 27 per cent for older people with a disability.

The polling comes as 100 charities and non-profit organisations across the UK have joined together to call for more targeted support in the form of a social tariff for the energy market to help older and disabled households heat their homes.

A social energy tariff is a discounted, targeted tariff aimed at those in greatest need to ensure they are able to live in their homes comfortably.

The plans have been set out in a letter to the Chancellor and would support low-income households who face a double burden from the rising cost of bills and paying more for their energy due to the poverty premium.

The letter calls for targeted support to be made available to those who need it most – including those on means-tested benefits, disability benefits and Carer’s Allowance as well as those missing out on welfare support but still struggling with their bills.

In addition, National Energy Action and Energy Action Scotland have today released their latest Fuel Poverty Monitor which provides an annual analysis of how the energy crisis has impacted fuel-poor households.

The Monitor confirms that households living on the lowest incomes, in the least efficient homes and on pre-payment meters, are being hardest hit by energy price increases.

It recommends the Government urgently consults on a mandatory social tariff to begin in April 2024, or sooner if practicable, to provide affordable energy for low-income and vulnerable households; and that the focus of this should be to ensure that the targeting of such a scheme goes beyond just those households that receive means-tested benefits.

From April 2023, the Government’s Energy Bills Support Scheme comes to an end and the support provided by the Energy Price Guarantee will be reduced.

Demand for the charities’ services are high and they are being inundated with calls from people in dire need, for example those relying on medical equipment like dialysis machines, who are facing a daily struggle to keep their equipment turned on and stay warm and well.

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, said:

Imagine having to choose between staying warm, feeding your family, or powering essential medical equipment. This is the reality for increasing numbers of older and disabled households across the country.

Older people are struggling to get by now, and that’s before another energy price increase comes their way in a few months’ time. Many will simply not be able to cope with further price rises and we’re extremely concerned their health and wellbeing will pay the price.

There needs to be much more protection for those who have no other means of paying such extortionate energy costs. The Government must introduce a social tariff for the energy market whilst prices are so high, and ensure we never face a crisis like this again.

Fuel Poverty Monitor author Matt Copeland, head of policy and public affairs at National Energy Action, says:

We spoke to over a hundred organisations across the UK, directly with our clients and polled the general public. From this it’s clear that the energy crisis is having a profound impact on the poorest and most vulnerable households in society.

Whether households are heating just one room for just a few hours a week, or rationing the use of their medical equipment, the results are completely unacceptable in modern day society. So far, the UK Government has offered sticking plaster solutions to the crisis.

What is really needed is structural change to the energy market. We were told time and again that a social tariff is what is needed. Today we come together with hundreds of other organisations to say just that. The UK Government must urgently prioritise work to implement a social tariff as soon as possible.

James Taylor, Director of Strategy at disability equality charity Scope, said:

Astronomical energy bills are pushing disabled people to the brink.

Our helpline has been inundated with calls from disabled people whose bills have doubled or even quadrupled in a year.

Prices will rise again this April but disabled families have nothing left to cut back on. They can’t turn off vital, life-saving equipment and budgets can’t stretch any further.

Other plans for an “Energy For All” allowance for all households to have access to a free band of energy are also being developed by End Fuel Poverty Coalition members.

Coalition responds to Chancellor’s autumn statement

End Fuel Poverty Coalition members have reacted to the Chancellor’s autumn statement as it has been confirmed that Coalition members will be joining forces with others in the Warm This Winter campaign to call for a day of action on 3 December to protest at the lack of UK Government support for those in fuel poverty.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, commented:

The Chancellor has now condemned 7 million households to suffer in fuel poverty this winter. The rise in the energy price cap from April next year could see this figure increase to 8.6 million households.

We are already seeing the horrific impact of living in cold damp homes on children, the elderly, disabled and those with illnesses ranging from cancer to asthma. Even with the additional funding pledged to the NHS and social care system today, we are deeply concerned that it will be overwhelmed by the energy bills crisis and millions will suffer.

The Chancellor could have raised all the money required to save the public from fuel poverty this winter through a more comprehensive Windfall Tax. Instead, he has chosen to protect the profits of oil and gas firms over protecting people’s lives.

A film by the Warm This Winter campaign summarised the criticisms of the Budget.

Tessa Khan from Uplift commented:

The chancellor rightly diagnosed climate breakdown and energy affordability as two of the biggest challenges we face, but has sided today with the industry driving both: oil and gas.

Until this year, the UK offered among the most lucrative tax conditions for oil and gas producers in the world. The rise in the rate of the windfall tax to 35% is therefore welcome, but it is a temporary fix when what is needed is permanent reform.

More alarmingly, Hunt has failed to close the gaping tax loophole that allows companies such as Shell to avoid tax if they invest in new oil and gas fields. It also gives them an even bigger handout if they choose to power their oil and gas rigs using wind – despite the fact that the vast majority of emissions come from burning, not extracting, oil.

Not only will this see billions in lost tax, it sends us in precisely the opposite direction to the one that will get us out of this hole for good.

This is the “highway to climate hell”, that the UN secretary general, António Guterres, warned world leaders about at Cop27.

It is also the route to permanently high energy bills.

Electricity generators have also been hit with a 45% windfall tax but without the generous allowance for new investment that oil and gas companies benefit from.

This is an absurd outcome given the dual crises we face of climate breakdown and energy affordability.

Alethea Warrington, from climate charity Possible, which is part of the Warm This Winter campaign, said:

The Chancellor’s windfall tax doesn’t go far enough on dirty fossil fuels, while clean energy generators got slapped with the biggest single levy increase in the budget.

This is completely backwards.

Oil and gas companies continue to reap eye-watering profits while the climate and people across the UK feel the burn.

The government should act to increase clean, cheap energy by unblocking onshore wind and implement a bigger windfall tax on oil and gas companies.

This would provide the funds we need to keep everyone warmer this winter by insulating our homes and cutting bills for those who need it most.

While the Government did announce funding for energy efficiency measures and a new task force to make it the nation’s mission to improve buildings, Sam Alvis, head of economy at Green Alliance, said:

The chancellor is asking people to wait another three years to get their home insulated when they urgently need help now. Promises for after the next election isn’t good enough.

Today was more about raising money than spending it. It’s right that oil and gas companies are being asked to pay more, but it’s still unclear why the UK isn’t levying the same tax rate as Norway.

While the investment allowance has shrunk for oil and gas, electricity generators aren’t getting the same incentives.

Fuel poverty set to hit 11m households as protesters gather in Westminster

New estimates by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition reveal that the axing of the Energy Price Guarantee could lead to almost 11m UK households in fuel poverty from April 2023.

Based on the latest estimates on energy prices from Cornwall Insight, figures will rise from 7m households now to 10.7m (a rise from 24.5% to 37.6% of households) from April 2023.

While numbers will then fall slightly, it will still leave 10.1m households in fuel poverty in winter 2023/24.

The figures come as protestors gather in London to ask MPs to back plans for a universal basic energy allowance.

This energy allowance, which would meet basic needs for heating, cooking and lighting, is the core component of the Energy For All petition which will be handed into Downing Street today with more than 600,000 signatures.

MPs can also now back an Early Day Motion supporting the Energy For All plans. Ruth London of Fuel Poverty Action said:

Even the Energy Price Guarantee, which was billed as the government’s two-year solution to the price crisis, will not last two years but will end in April.The outlook is frankly terrifying.

It is now all the more essential – and more possible – to win a totally new pricing framework like Energy For All. Finally there is now support for this inside Parliament.”

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, commented:

The government may have brought some stability to the markets, but it has come at the cost of huge instability in households’ finances.

The new Chancellor must work quickly, and with consumer groups and charities, to design a new package of support and energy market reforms that will help those in fuel poverty now and post April.

But while the political focus on energy bills may now have shifted to next April, millions of the most vulnerable will be living in cold and damp homes this winter and will need further financial and non-financial support.

The Warm This Winter campaign has called for GBP14bn of additional financial support as well as non-financial help for households this winter.

Chief among the non-financial asks is an immediate suspension of all forced transfers of households onto more expensive pre-payment meters (PPMs), whether by court warrant or remotely via smart meters.

These demands come alongside calls for more investment in energy efficiency and a move towards a renewable energy future, and away from oil and gas.

Cara Jenkinson, Cities Manager at Ashden, which is part of the Warm This Winter campaign, added:

Poor quality homes that leak energy are currently causing the NHS £1.4bn a year as well as misery for people in damp, cold homes.

To solve fuel poverty for good, we need a rapid scale-up of home retrofit focused on the areas that need it most, with an investment in the construction skills needed so that work isn’t stalled by a lack of workers.

Tessa Khan, director of Uplift, said:

On top of everything else, this government’s plan to fix the UK’s energy system is also in disarray.

We need a government prepared to tackle the crisis at its root, which means moving the UK off volatile fossil fuels with a national insulation programme to cut waste, and a massive acceleration in renewable energy, which is now nine times cheaper than gas.

This is the only way to permanently lower energy bills.

The government needs to stop adding to our problems and fix the ones on their desk. This must begin today with providing more targeted help for those who are going to be hit hardest.

Ross Matthewman, Head of Policy and Public Affairs of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health said:

The decision to end the price cap freeze after six months rather than the proposed two years will have a devastating effect on households struggling with their energy bills. While insufficient, the two-year energy price cap freeze provided some reprieve to households, who now face grave uncertainty on what support on household energy bills exist beyond April.

We urgently call on the UK government to get a grip, reinstate the two-year energy price cap freeze as well as intervene more broadly to support households struggling with their energy bills.

While we welcomed the government’s Energy Bills Support Scheme, it is apparent that £400 spread over six months is simply not going to be enough to tackle the spiralling cost of energy crisis, with more significant intervention needed.

Not only are we are calling on the government to double the amount of financial support provided to households to protect households this winter, but we are also urging them to introduce a raft of energy efficiency measures. Such measures can act both as a means of supporting households most in need right now as well as shielding households from spiralling energy bills in the long-term.

New chancellor set to axe Energy Price Guarantee from April

Fuel poverty campaigners have reacted with shock to news that the new Chancellor will end the Energy Price Guarantee in April 2023.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition commented:

The country was already facing a financial cliff edge in April due to plans to end other support packages, but this cliff edge has now become even steeper.

Without the Energy Price Guarantee, the Government will need to fundamentally reform the energy market alongside providing unprecedented levels of support for energy efficiency schemes and financial support for the most vulnerable.

But any threat to people’s energy security is a threat to their health and wellbeing. If people cannot trust the Government to deliver the support it has promised, what trust can anyone have that they will keep people warm this winter and beyond?

The need for the Government to provide additional support for the most vulnerable this winter has also not disappeared and we hope the Treasury quickly acts to reassure households.

Chaitanya Kumar, head of environment and the green transition at the New Economics Foundation, commented:

The biggest surprise in the chancellor’s statement is to scale back the energy price guarantee, the government’s flagship support programme. The unfrozen price cap is now expected to rise above £6,000 from April 2023, which creates a massive cliff edge for families.

The government should get support where it’s most needed and fix our broken energy market. One way of doing this is by entitling every family to a basic amount of universal energy at free or subsidised rates.

This can ensure that nobody is left to make choices between heating and eating while encouraging those who can afford it to reduce their energy use.

But the only long-term solution to real energy security is to help people cut their energy demand and the first step is to help insulate our homes.

There is still time to roll out an emergency insulation programme this winter that can save both families and the treasury billions.

Henry Gregg, Director of External Affairs at Asthma + Lung UK, said:

Removing the energy price guarantee will spark fear in people living with long-term lung conditions, such as asthma and COPD, who need to keep their homes warm to survive.

People who were already struggling with rising energy bills are now hanging on by a thread with no safety net in place beyond next spring. Millions of people in this country are already living in fuel poverty and an end to the bill freeze in April could negatively impact many, many more.

Lives are already being lost, the Government must act now to prevent further damage. It must commit to helping people with lung conditions, who need warm homes to survive, and provide financial support for people facing extra energy bills for life-saving medical equipment.

Juliet Philips from the E3G think tank tweeted:

▶️Essential gov gets ‘targeting’ right – huge risk that millions could fall through gap with simple metrics
▶️£2.5k is untenable for fuel poor – quantum must be increased for vulnerable
▶️Must boost investment in long-term solutions to lower bills; home retrofits & renewables https://t.co/8b19IDZghZ— Juliet Phillips (@_JulietPhillips) October 17, 2022

While National Energy Action called the plan, said the almighty trade-off “may provide confidence and certainty for markets, it could cause anxiety and doubt for households” leaving families “clinging on by their fingertips.”

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, said:

It’s been hard keeping up with all the fiscal policy changes the last few days, but they seem to leave us in a position now in which nothing is guaranteed and with the Government increasingly warning of ‘hard choices to come’. This chilling outlook will be a huge concern for our older population, with only the healthiest and wealthiest able to view the future with equanimity.

Pensioners on low and modest incomes, or with high costs, have the most to worry about and for their sake we urge the Government to raise benefits in line with prices, not wages, and to extend help far enough up the income range so that the group once referred to by their party as ‘just about managing’, (i.e. not just those living below the poverty line) also get some support. The truth is that all these groups of older people, numbering several million, need an injection of additional cash to see them through the winter, not only from April 2023 onwards, when we trust that Ministers will keep their promise to reinstate the triple lock. Without more support between now and the spring though, the prospects for pensioners on low and modest incomes and with no savings are bleak, and we cannot see how they will be able to afford to buy even the basics. Without more help it seems certain that some will sink into deep hardship this winter unlike anything most of us have seen before.

Older people depend on being able to access good quality health and social care, and with the quality and availability of these services already severely compromised by shortages of staff and funding, the idea that there could be any further cuts to them is inconceivable. Both need more resources and a long-term sustainable plan for the future, not further cuts and uncertainty.

Like most of the older people we exist to help, at Age UK we are incredibly worried about what may be to come, and we implore the Government to stand with our older population through this crisis.

Government £14bn short on measures to tackle fuel poverty

Around seven million homes in the UK will experience dire fuel poverty without a further £14bn package of emergency support, according to campaigners. [1]

Despite the Energy Price Guarantee, the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme and other support already announced, more help will be needed to prevent the severe health impacts of living in cold, damp homes crippling the NHS and causing excess winter deaths.

Even including the Energy Price Guarantee, the End Fuel Poverty Coalition calculates that the unit cost of gas has increased by between 153% and 165% since winter 2021, while the unit cost of electricity has increased 63-68%. [2]

The Warm This Winter campaign is now calling for additional financial and non-financial support for households this winter. [3]

Financially, Warm This Winter is calling for additional, targeted financial support measures to those who need it most. This would include a third cost of living payment of £325 for those on income linked benefits to be paid on 1 December.

Campaigners have also asked for a further £150 uplift in disability benefits, the restoration of the £20 Universal Credit uplift, increasing the energy bill support payments for people who do not have a mains gas connection and ensuring that all households who received the Warm Homes Discount last winter can access a £150 rebate this winter (regardless of the new process which now uses an algorithm to decide who benefits).

The cost of these additional financial measures would be around £14bn, but the Government could further help those with pre-existing health conditions by suspending all prescription charges in England and suspending any deductions to benefits to recover money owed for a variety of debts and advances, including energy bills.

Sarah Woolnough, CEO of Asthma + Lung UK, said:

With millions of homes set to be plunged into fuel poverty this winter, we’re extremely concerned that the nation’s lung health will rapidly deteriorate if the government doesn’t step up to help the most vulnerable.

If people cannot afford to heat their homes, they may be forced to live in freezing homes where cold and flu viruses can thrive. Cold air is a common trigger for people with lung conditions, with around two-thirds of people with asthma and COPD that we surveyed saying that it can make their symptoms worse.

We know that people with lung conditions are already struggling with price hikes – 1 in 5 that we surveyed said they’d had an asthma attack because of changes they’d made to their lives in response to the cost of living crisis, such as skipping meals, not picking up prescriptions, and using mains-powered medical machinery less. Things will only get worse when temperatures plummet and colds and viruses ramp up.

We need the government to do more for people with chronic health conditions, and to provide targeted financial support for people on low incomes and living with lung disease. Without these measures, there is the real risk that people will be forced to take major risks with their health this winter.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, commented:

In addition to supporting households now, Government policy has created a cliff edge in April 2023, with the Energy Bills Support Scheme and additional Cost of Living Payments due to end.

This will result in the numbers of households in fuel poverty rising to almost eight million. The situation will be made worse if benefits are not uprated by inflation and if prescription charges increase.

Therefore the Government must also set out a medium term plan for financial support while we wait for longer term measures to take effect.

Cara Jenkinson, Cities Manager, Ashden said:

Poor quality homes that leak energy are currently causing the NHS £1.4bn a year as well as misery for people in damp, cold homes.

To solve fuel poverty for good, we need a rapid scale-up of home retrofit focused on the areas that need it most, with an investment in the construction skills needed so that work isn’t stalled by a lack of workers.

Tessa Khan, director of Uplift, said:

On top of everything else, this government’s plan to fix the UK’s energy system is also in disarray. We need a government prepared to tackle the crisis at its root, which means moving the UK off volatile fossil fuels with a national insulation programme to cut waste, and a massive acceleration in renewable energy, which is now nine times cheaper than gas. This is the only way to permanently lower energy bills.

The government needs to stop adding to our problems and fix the ones on their desk. This must begin today with providing more targeted help for those who are going to be hit hardest.

Other measures the government could take to support households stay warm this winter, include:

The launch of a centralised public information campaign to ensure people are aware of, and signed up to, the Priority Service Register.
Guidance to local authorities on best practice in using the Household Support Fund (HSF) to deliver free boiler repairs (where ECO criteria are not met), providing warm packs and financial support on non-means-tested benefits (e.g. ESA).
Work with charities and local authorities to increase the provision of energy advice (for example, single local point of contact for those struggling) and to develop guidance on how social prescribing could be used to help tackle fuel poverty.

Working with landlords, the Government could also support tenants in fuel poverty through:

Introducing a social rent cap, alongside ring-fenced funding to social landlords so that energy efficiency improvements are not sacrificed in the event of supply chain costs increasing.
Introducing a private sector rent freeze (similar to that introduced by the Scottish Government).
Urging local authorities to ensure landlords comply with existing private rented sector regulations – highlighting that enforcing these regulations is cost-neutral in the long term.

ENDS

[1] Fuel poverty levels estimated by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition. For methodology and assumptions visit: https://www.endfuelpoverty.org.uk/price-cap-methodology/.

£14bn made up of:

– £325 to c.8m households – £2.6bn

– £150 to c.16m disabled households – £2.4bn

– £20/week = £1040/year to c.8m households = £8.3bn

– Additional £150 for c.4m off gas households = £600m

– WHD ask = up to £160m

Full details of Warm This Winter are briefing available on request.

[2] Analysis by End Fuel Poverty Coalition on energy prices, full charts available on request.

[3] Warm this Winter is a new campaign demanding the government acts now to help tackle rising energy bills this winter and to ensure energy is affordable for everyone in the future. It is supported by leading anti-poverty and environmental organisations, including Save the Children, WWF and the End Fuel Poverty Coalition.

[4] The Government could do this by issuing a directive to energy firms and Ofgem instructing them to comply with the terms and conditions of pre-payment meter installations, with stringent enforcement and financial penalty for non-compliance. Given that installing these meters severely limits the amount of energy which can be used by these groups, it cannot be possible that installation of PPMs this winter meets the terms of Ofgem rules that PPMs can only be installed if it is “safe and reasonably practicable” to do so.