Tag: Warm This Winter

MPs from across parties join call for Government to tackle energy crisis

The British public is calling on the government to support vulnerable people and do more to tackle the energy crisis ahead of tomorrow’s Spring Statement.

New research released today reveals that eight in 10 Britons (81%) think more financial support should be given to vulnerable people to help with their energy bills and a similar proportion (84%) back more support for people to insulate their homes to save energy.

The research commissioned by campaign group Warm This Winter also found that 85% of respondents agreed that developing more homegrown renewable energy would improve the UK’s energy security. 

The pledge has already garnered cross party support from MPs including former energy minister The Rt Hon Chris Skidmore (Conservative), Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Net Zero Dr Alan Whitehead (Labour),  Wera Hobhouse (Lib Dem Spokesperson for Energy and Climate Change), and former leader of the Green Party Caroline Lucas.

The Warm This Winter research also found that three quarters of Brits back a shift to homegrown renewables in order to help lower UK energy bills.

The Rt Hon Chris Skidmore MP said: 

Expanding popular, common sense measures like home upgrades and building out clean renewable energy is the best way to permanently bring down bills, protect households long term, and reach net zero.

Dr Alan Whitehead MP said: 

Far too many households are still struggling to pay their energy bills and make ends meet. The government must seize every opportunity to tackle the energy crisis long term.

Wera Hobhouse MP said: 

Everyone deserves to be able to keep warm during the winter. Tomorrow’s budget needs to reflect a recognition of this by the Chancellor and deliver a real plan to address the future of energy in this country. That future needs to be a green future, where clean energy production insulates us from volatile oil and gas prices and we truly have energy security.

Caroline Lucas MP said: 

We’re in a gas-driven energy price crisis, a climate emergency and a cost of living scandal – yet this Government is utterly failing to take action which could help tackle all three, and is leaving people and planet in the lurch. To help keep people warm every winter and secure a liveable future, the Chancellor must commit to properly fund a street-by-street, local authority-led home insulation programme, invest in abundant and affordable renewables, and provide urgent energy bill support for vulnerable households.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition which is part of the Warm This Winter campaign, commented:

After a winter of misery which saw over nine million adults living in cold damp homes, it’s time for the government to stop the dithering.

We now need urgent action to protect the most vulnerable and fix Britain’s broken energy system. Even after free market conditions return to our energy bills later this summer, people will still be paying double what they were two years ago. 

Due to the energy crisis, the household energy debt mountain has grown to more than £2.5 billion and paying this back while the cost of living crisis continues is unfair. We need the Government and the energy industry to consult with charities to agree on a realistic way of tackling this vital issue.

On 1st April 2023, a mass lobby will see people around the country come together to demand change. To find out more and get involved, visit https://www.warmthiswinter.org.uk/mass-lobby.

ENDS

Online poll of 2000 adults aged 18+ in Great Britain between 22nd and 23rd February 2023. The figures are weighted and representative of the GB population.

Brits back renewables as fuel poverty petition handed in

The British public is decisively in favour of a swift transition away from fossil fuels in order to ensure a reliable and affordable supply of energy, according to new research released today.

Over half of adults in Great Britain (54%) believe the country should aim to get off oil and gas as quickly as possible by ramping up efforts to improve energy efficiency and developing significantly more renewable energy. Less than a third (29%) support a more gradual transition away from oil and gas.

Just one in ten respondents to the poll conducted on behalf of the Warm This Winter campaign felt that the UK should aim to continue to meet its energy demand primarily with oil and gas for as long as is necessary. [1]

The news came as the campaign group, which includes over 40 of the UK’s leading charities, delivered a 400,000-strong petition to Number 10 Downing Street. The petition calls on the government to take decisive action now to solve the energy price crisis, which has left seven million UK households in fuel poverty this winter. 

The petition, which has attracted celebrity backers including business woman Deborah Meaden, anatomist Professor Alice Roberts and writer Emma Kennedy, has four key demands of the government:

  • Emergency support now: Providing additional financial support to people who without urgent action will be on the front-line of poverty every winter.‍
  • Help to upgrade homes: Launching a new, properly-funded programme of home upgrades and insulation across the UK to bring down bills and prevent energy waste.
  • Cheap energy:  More than triple the amount of renewable energy in the UK by 2030, including wind and solar generated in harmony with nature, in order to permanently lower bills.
  • Free the UK from oil and gas: Stop approving new oil and gas fields so that the UK can escape its dependence on volatile fossil fuels.

Dragons’ Den star and environmental campaigner, Deborah Meaden, is keen to see a restructuring of the UK energy market to allow the country to take advantage of the lower cost of renewable energy. Deborah said:

There is simply no excuse in one of the richest countries in the world for people to be having to make the choice between heating and eating or being forced into public spaces simply to keep warm.

The UK’s reliance on costly fossil fuels has left this country vulnerable to oil and gas price fluctuations – an absolute catastrophe for energy bills in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s time we overhauled the current energy system, decoupled renewable prices from the global gas market and prioritised harnessing our abundant natural resources, including wind, wave and solar power in order to secure energy supply and bring prices down in the long-term.

Jess Stone, 27, from Essex, handed in the petition on behalf of the 400,000 members of the public who signed it. She said: 

You try so hard to make everything stretch, but there’s only so much stretching you can do, and once you’ve cut out every single thing that isn’t essential, you’re still left having to cut out essentials.

It’s not just the physical toll, it’s not just the financial toll, it’s the mental toll that is getting harder and harder. Every single day I’m having to decide ‘what will we go without today?’.

I’m having to put my four-year-old to bed every night in a home that is too cold. He has asthma and the cold is bad for his lungs, but I just can’t afford to put the heating on, so we’ll go to sleep in the same bed for warmth, under two duvets, with him sleeping in his dressing gown.

I turn to places like food banks and baby banks for help. I’m grateful for these places, but they shouldn’t have to exist. Today I went to a baby bank to pick up a jumper for my son – he grows so quickly and I can’t afford to keep up, and he needs warm clothes when we can’t afford to heat the house.

I’ve donated his old clothes for other parents, we’re all helping each other out, but you think to yourself, why isn’t the Government doing something to actually solve this?

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition which backed the petition commented:

Across the UK, the message to decision makers is clear: we need reform to our broken energy system and no return to the dirty fossil fuels of the past.

An end to fuel poverty which also meets net zero targets is possible, it just needs the political will to make it happen.

Every so often the Government wakes up to the reality of life in energy crisis Britain and takes action. The latest u-turn is that it now looks set to keep the average energy bill capped at current levels for another three months. But in reality, this will still feel like a 19% increase in bills for people from 1 April as the Energy Bill Support Scheme is coming to an end and new support for vulnerable households is insufficient.

Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift added:

This shows the public is way ahead of the government on how to solve the UK’s energy crisis and lower energy bills permanently. Fix the leaks in our buildings to keep the heat in, crack on with developing cheap renewable energy, and move the UK off unaffordable fossil fuels.

Yet, because of the constant whispering of fossil fuel lobbyists, this government is dithering, while wasting public money subsidising new oil and gas drilling that will make zero difference to our energy security or bills. If it approves the huge Rosebank field, the UK public will effectively be over half a billion pounds poorer because of the subsidies, and the oil will most likely end up abroad.

Unaffordable energy prices are at the root of so many of the problems we are currently experiencing, needlessly. Other countries are successfully bringing down bills by upgrading homes with insulation and heat pumps and by accelerating renewables, so why can’t we? This government just needs to get on with it.

ENDS

[1] When it comes to UK energy security (ensuring access to reliable and affordable sources of energy), which of the following statements is closest to your view?

  • The UK should aim to get off oil and gas as quickly as possible by ramping up efforts to improve energy efficiency and developing lots more renewable energy – 54%
  • The UK should aim to continue to meet its energy demand primarily with oil and gas while making some effort to improve energy efficiency and build more renewable energy – 29%
  • The UK should aim to continue to meet its energy demand primarily with oil and gas for as long as is necessary – 10%
  • None of the above – 7%

Online poll of 2000 adults aged 18+ in Great Britain between 1st and 2nd February 2023. The figures are weighted and representative of the GB population.

Protest calls for end to excess winter deaths caused by cold homes

Protestors are to stage a vigil in Westminster over the number of people dying from living in cold damp homes.

Members of the National Pensioners’ Convention, Fuel Poverty Action, Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) and others will hold a minute’s silence in memory of those who have died as Big Ben chimes 12pm on Thursday, 19th January 2023.

The protest is being staged on the day the latest ‘excess winter deaths’ figures for England and Wales are due to be announced by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). The figures will cover the period from December 2021 to February 2022, prior to the huge surges in costs of energy bills and number of homes in fuel poverty.

The demonstration follows on from a day of action on fuel poverty co-ordinated by the Warm This Winter campaign which saw events take place up and down the country in December 2022. Further “Warm Up” protests are being organised for Saturday 21st January by Fuel Poverty Action.

The event will start at 11.30am on the 19th January 2023 at the George V Statue, Westminster SW1P 3JY.  Speakers will address the demonstration, leading up to the one minute silence.

Pall bearers dressed in black will then slow march with a coffin bearing the latest excess deaths figure to Downing Street to hand in a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calling for immediate action to end this annual scandal.

NPC General Secretary Jan Shortt said:

It is shameful that anyone should die from cold related illness in this country. But we fear that the rocketing cost of living, rampant energy prices, and the disastrous crisis in the NHS and social care will see tens of thousands more die in this way.  It’s time the government took action to end this horrific annual cull of our oldest and most vulnerable.

Alex Considine who is planning on attending the protest said:

As a single mum with two grown up children, still living at home but with decent incomes, we are all still struggling to survive in this energy driven cost of living crisis.

Even after cutting back, cutting down and reducing our outgoings we are still sitting in the dark at times and not putting the heating on.

And we are the lucky ones.

My neighbours and friends  are in dire straits and constantly asking for my help and advice.  Our homes are cold and damp and our children are getting sicker and sicker with no end in sight. How do we go on?

The protest will also put further pressure on the Government to Ban Forced Pre-Payment Meters after more politicians spoke out about the scandal. Ruth London from Fuel Poverty Action added:

Forcing people onto pre-payment meters is turning energy debt into a death sentence for many.  Suppliers are doing this in defiance of their licence conditions, while Ofgem, the courts, and the government are colluding.

Many people rely on energy to power stair lifts, wheelchairs, hearing and respiratory aids as well as the heat, light, refrigeration and connectivity that we all depend on.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition commented:

The energy bills crisis has its roots in Westminster and the Government’s failure over decades to help us insulate our homes and secure a renewable-led energy grid.

The cost of this failure is now being felt by the elderly, disabled, those with health conditions and young families. Even in mild winters, we see huge levels of excess winter deaths caused by living in cold damp homes which put our country to shame.

We need urgent additional financial support for the most vulnerable this winter and next and a significant ramping up of insulation and energy efficiency schemes.

Nine million adults spent Christmas in Dickensian conditions

Millions of adults with pre-existing serious health conditions are spending the Christmas and New Year period in cold damp homes, according to new research. [1]

The figures for the Warm This Winter campaign reveal the growing depth of the energy bills crisis – especially among the most vulnerable.

18% of the population (9.02m adults) are living in cold damp homes this month, with a quarter of people with health conditions which are made worse by cold and damp unable to heat their homes to a safe standard (26%, 4.75m).

A third of those with disabilities (28%, 1.9m) live in cold damp homes.

The research also reveals that people are not just concerned about their own welfare. One in ten of the population (9%) are worried about an older relative being exposed to the health impacts of living in a cold damp home. Almost a third (27%) were worried about the impact of fuel poverty on their local community.

And despite Government campaigns calling for people to save energy, over half (55%) believe they had already implemented energy reduction measures prior to this winter – with 15% already cutting back their energy use to the bare minimum necessary to keep safe.

Jonathan Bean from Buckinghamshire, describes his experience of fuel poverty:

It’s a daily battle for my asthmatic son and I to keep our home free of mould and damp.

We have dehumidifiers and electric heaters running as much as we can afford to, but that still doesn’t keep the home any warmer than 12 degrees.

We even had ice forming inside our double glazed windows during the recent cold weather.

Our electricity bills keep going up and while others who are ‘off the gas grid’ have had extra government support, we haven’t.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition which is part of the Warm This Winter campaign, commented:

As we get deeper into winter, our worst fears about rising energy bills are being realised.

We are now a nation unable to keep itself warm, concerned for the well being of our nearest and dearest and spending a festive season suffering in cold damp homes.

Jacky Peacock from Advice for Renters, a charity working with those in fuel poverty in North London, added:

We used to read Dickens at Christmas with a sense of nostalgia, but now Dickensian conditions are back for those who can’t afford to heat their homes this winter.

Graham Easterlow, Chief Executive of East Durham Trust in Peterlee, said:

Working in the most left behind place in England we see the devastating effects that poor housing has on people’s health and wellbeing. With many unable to heat their homes we fear that more homes will suffer with damp and cold.

Alice Harrison, Fossil Fuels Campaign Leader at Global Witness, commented:

It’s scandalous how many people will be celebrating Christmas this year in cold, damp homes.

If our government was serious about addressing energy poverty this winter it would hike taxes on the oil and gas companies that have made billions on the back of the skyrocketing cost of energy and the impoverishment of millions of UK citizens.

Simon Brammer, Head of Cities at climate solutions charity Ashden, said:

How is it possible in the world’s sixth richest country that people are still living in cold, expensive to heat homes, causing misery and poor health for millions?

We urgently need a UK-wide, 10-year, street-by-street retrofit plan that is properly funded – combined with a skills strategy to ensure we have the skilled labour to deliver it.

Graham Duxbury, Chief Executive of Groundwork UK added

We are desperately worried about the mental and physical health effects of people living in cold, damp homes this Christmas.

Our Green Doctors are making an unprecedented number of home visits to deliver energy advice and tell us that they are seeing more and more people living in ‘pre-Victorian conditions’, forced to survive without heat and cutting back on essential personal items.

This is not a short-term crisis but a long-term need, which can only be resolved by putting in place extra protection for those most vulnerable, a more coordinated approach to funding advice services and by ramping up efforts to retrofit homes.

Stuart Bretherton, Energy For All Campaign Coordinator at Fuel Poverty Action, said:

The political choices of this government are quickly turning this poverty crisis into a public health crisis, which could result in an unprecedented number of deaths from cold and damp this winter.

This is in a year that profits for energy companies have doubled or even tripled in some cases. With this money you could end deaths from fuel poverty by making sure everyone could access enough energy to meet their basic needs.

ENDS

‘Dickensian’ graphic used is from Shutterstock and is an artists conception.

[1] 2,186 people interviewed between 20-21 December 2022. Results were weighted to be representative of the GB population.

The GB population aged 18 or over stands at 51,435,642 (ONS) and population statistics are derived from this number. The figures apply to adults only and the number of children also in cold damp homes would be in addition to this. Deeper analysis of the data will be published in the new year on this issue.

[2] Comparison with previous research

Nov 2022 [3] Dec 2022 [1]
All adult public in cold damp homes 19% 18%
Vulnerable adults in cold damp homes 22% 21%
Adults with health conditions in cold damp homes 26% 26%
Elderly people in cold damp homes 10% 10%
Disabled adults in cold damp homes 28% 29%
Young families in cold damp homes 26% 21%
Rural and vulnerable adults in cold damp homes 23% 20%
BAME adults in cold damp homes 22% 24%
Pre-Payment Meter (PPM) Customers in cold damp homes 31% 36%

[3] 2,198 people interviewed between 29-30 November 2022. Results were weighted to be representative of the GB population.

Number of pre-payment meter customers living in cold damp homes revealed

Pre-payment meters (PPMs) are forcing people to live in cold damp homes, according to new research. [1]

The figures, for the Warm This Winter campaign, reveal that 64% of pre-payment meter customers are vulnerable, with 51% having health conditions or disabilities.

Over one in ten (13%) PPM customers have already self-disconnected by massively reducing their energy supply. The situation is even worse among those on traditional PPMs (like those installed via court warrant) compared to those on smart meter PPMs [2].

Almost a third (31%) of PPM customers now live in cold damp homes (more than the national average of 19%). Among those customers who are on PPMs and also classified as vulnerable, the situation is even more stark, with 14% disconnecting and 36% now living in a cold damp home.These figures are before the current predicted cold snap kicks in and increases energy bills further.

Pre-payment meters could cost customers in excess of £200 more for their energy this winter. A recent investigation for the i paper, revealed that energy firms have secured almost 500,000 court warrants to install these meters in homes of customers in debt since the end of lockdown.

When customers are on pre-payment tariffs they will repay their energy debts and also incur daily standing charges – on top of paying more for their energy at a higher unit cost. This can often lead to customers “self-disconnecting” as the cost of servicing debt and standing charges leaves them with no money for energy.

In some cases, customers volunteer to go onto a prepayment meter, but research for one energy firm suggested that in 14% of cases, this was done without a customer’s active, informed consent. [3]

The End Fuel Poverty Coalition has called for a ban on the forced transfer of customers to pre-payment meters. A spokesperson commented:

People on low incomes have always saved energy, but if people self-disconnect or drastically reduce their energy use, they are at risk from the severe health complications of living in a cold damp home.

Children and those who are elderly, disabled or have pre-existing medical conditions are especially vulnerable this winter.

The research shows the scandal of people condemned to a winter of misery – forced on them by energy firms.

These firms appear to be manipulating the courts to push people onto pre-payment meters.

The i investigation went on to uncover that in some cases courts are “batch approving” applications for warrants. In one series of cases, seen by the journalist, almost 500 applications for pre-payment meter warrants were issued in just under four minutes.

The End Fuel Poverty Coalition now advises any customers to check all messages from energy firms and if they are contacted about a pre-payment meter installation to contact the Good Law Project who are looking to challenge these transfers.

The investigation comes after a weekend of “Warm This Winter” protests in more than 40 locations across the UK. Ruth London of Fuel Poverty Action took part in the day of action and commented:

There is growing anger at the absolute poverty so many people are facing now – it feels like going back to Victorian times and many will not survive this winter.

And why? There is plenty of money. Energy corporations are making eye-watering profits from the money we are paying them. Patriotic Millionaires are crying out to be taxed. And meanwhile people are dying in cold, uninsulated homes.

Fuel Poverty Action is fighting for Energy For All – enough energy free for each home to cover the basics like heating and lighting, paid for by windfall taxes, ending the millions spent daily on fossil fuel subsidies, and higher tariffs for luxury or wasteful energy use.

With temperatures set to plummet this week, the National Pensioners Convention has called a protest against excess winter mortality rates on Thursday 8 December 2022, 12 noon (meet George V Statue, Old Palace Yard).

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, said:

People on pre-payment meters (PPMs) are some of the most vulnerable among us. I dread to think how many older people have been affected by the 500,000 warrants issued for forced PPM installations since the end of lockdown.

PPM charges are generally higher than charges for those paying by direct debit, leading to higher rates of fuel poverty among this group.

Although PPMs are included in the Government’s £400 energy bill discount scheme, many are missing out on this much-needed help because of problems with the vouchers that are being issued for those on older meters. In fact we estimate that at least 150,000 older households relying on an old PPM will miss out on the £400 and worryingly, recent Government figures suggest over 40% of vouchers sent to PPM households are yet to be redeemed.

We want to see a promotional campaign to encourage those people with old PPMs to redeem their vouchers, with repeat vouchers dispatched to homes yet to redeem and extensions given to expiry dates. The Government and Ofgem must also consider a moratorium on forced PPM installations until energy prices stabilise to avoid older people self-disconnecting this winter.

ENDS
[1] 2,198 people interviewed between 29-30 November 2022. Results were weighted to be representative of the UK population. A vulnerable household is defined as having a child under 6, an adult over 65, a person who is disabled or with a long term health condition.

[2] 18% of those on old fashioned PPMs and 7% of smart meter PPM customers have massively reduced their energy use with a further 33% of old PPM and 53% of smart PPM households somewhat reducing consumption.

[3] Research by Utilita, reported in The Sun, indicates that while 86% did choose to be on a PPM, this would imply that as many as 14% of the 4.5m PPM households (i.e. 630,000 households) did not actively choose to be on the tariffs.

National day of action on fuel poverty called for 3 December

Following the Government’s disappointing response to the energy bills crisis gripping the country, the Warm This Winter campaign has called for a national Day of Action on fuel poverty on Saturday 3 December 2022.

Groups and communities will come together and stage Warm This Winter events and actions in villages, towns and cities up and down the country in a display of people power showing support for the solutions to the energy crisis that need to be implemented now.

The Day of Action will bring together people from across the poverty movement, health and disability campaigners, housing activists, environmental campaigners as well as those struggling to pay their energy bills.

In London and Stoke-on-Trent, larger scale events will mark the day focussing on telling the real-life stories of people who are facing fuel poverty this winter. These will include a rally in London’s Parliament Square and a public meeting at Stoke’s historic Fenton Town Hall; a venue close to streets with some of the highest levels of fuel poverty in the country.

On the day, leading campaign group Fuel Poverty Action will be sparking a series of “Warm Ups” across the country where people who can’t afford to heat their own homes will go into public buildings and keep warm collectively there.

In Cardiff, Climate Cymru will bring people together in solidarity with those in fuel poverty outside the Senedd all wearing yellow for warmth.

Parents for Future UK local groups will be taking the Warm this Winter campaign to events in their area on the day. Actions will include writing “keep us warm this winter” Christmas cards to the Prime Minister and local elected representatives as well as showing support for wind energy by creating pop-up wind farms.

People can register their event or find an event near them online at https://www.warmthiswinter.org.uk/day-of-action

Tessa Khan from Uplift and one of the organisers of the Warm This Winter Day of Action, commented:

People only need to look at their bills to know that the UK’s energy system is broken. This Day of Action is to give a voice to those who want change from this government. Instead of spending billions of our money subsidising gas fields and expensive gas imports, which will guarantee bills stay high for years, people want sensible, practical solutions to permanently lower our energy costs.

People want those in fuel poverty given the support they need to stay warm this winter; they want help to insulate their homes; and they want this government to unblock onshore renewable energy, which will provide our homes with cheaper energy for years to come. This is about coming together to tell the government to look after the needs of British people, and not the needs of wealthy oil and gas companies.

The End Fuel Poverty Coalition is supporting the Day of Action and a spokesperson commented:

People are already seeing for themselves the suffering caused by living in fuel poverty and it will just get worse as we get deeper into winter.

The Day of Action is a final chance for the UK Government to take notice of the problems caused by living in cold damp homes and pledge to do all it can to end fuel poverty once and for all.

Sana Yusuf, climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:

The last few years have been hard enough without throwing volatile energy prices and a recession into the mix.

The UK Government has had all year to come up with solutions to help people facing extortionate living costs, yet its financial support scheme is not nearly enough to stop millions going cold this winter.

Why there isn’t a plan to insulate UK homes and boost the production of renewable energy beggars belief. Both are popular with the public and can help to lower energy bills permanently.

If government inaction has done anything, it has galvanised local communities who are turning out today because they know a better way forward exists.

Ruth London from Fuel Poverty Action commented:

There is plenty of money to ensure that everyone can keep warm this winter. It just needs to be taken from the oil and gas giants that are taking it from us.

The Warm Ups will enable people to demand Energy For All, an end to the imposition of prepayment meters when people get behind on their bills, or whatever other demands local organisers choose to highlight. The tactic has been used many times by pensioners and others to speak out about the cold, damp conditions that threaten health and lives.

Bethan Sayed from Climate Cymru said:

We are experiencing a cost of living crisis, a climate emergency and an energy crisis and these crises are connected. As fuel and household bills continue to rise, many people are already facing tough choices.

In addition to supporting the UK wide movement, the Warm This Winter Wales campaign is also calling on the Welsh Government to help address these combined crises. On the day of action there will be different ways people can show their support, this includes wearing something yellow to symbolise warmth. Whether it’s a yellow hat or yellow jumper, or even bringing a yellow blanket or hot water bottle out with you!

Warm This Winter Wales will also be launching a petition on the day of action to ask the Welsh Government to act now and keep people Warm This Winter.

Public demand more government action on energy crisis

The overwhelming majority of the population believe the Government should do more to help people through the energy crisis, according to new polling by Omnisis on behalf of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition.

Over 60 charities, co-ordinated by the Warm This Winter campaign, have joined forces to write to the new Prime Minister [pdf] demanding more financial and non-financial support for the 7m UK households currently in fuel poverty.

The letter goes on to call for the upweighting of benefits and urgent clarification of energy bills support available from April 2023, a massive programme of energy efficiency measures and the speeding up of moves to cheaper renewable energy.

The campaigners are supported by the new research which shows 76% of the population think the Government is not doing enough to support vulnerable households this winter.

Even taking into account the Energy Price Guarantee and the Energy Bills Support Scheme pledged by the Government, 58% of the population believe they will struggle to pay their bills this winter.

The research shows that people in the South West (68%), Wales (64%), the East Midlands and the North East (both 63%) are the areas where the most people are fighting to make ends meet.

And the situation will get worse. Over 8 in 10 (83%) are very or quite worried about the prospect of bills going up further in April 2023 when the current Government support programmes run out.

Joe Cole, Chief Executive of Advice for Renters, is one of the signatories of the letter and commented:

One of our clients who suffers from PTSD was pushed close to suicide when he couldn’t top up his pre-payment meter.

Thankfully, help was on hand and he has now been put back in credit, but he remains traumatised and his experience is proof of just how damaging life in fuel poverty can be on mental and physical health.

Tessa Khan, director of Uplift, said:

While our politicians have spent months fighting among themselves, the public has been watching this crisis bearing down on us.

It now demands urgent government action, which means more support for those who need it this winter, and the wholesale replacement of Truss’ implausible and wrong-headed plans for taxpayer-subsidised gas production with a government-backed programme to insulate homes and an acceleration of cheaper renewables.

Pragmatism not ideology must be what drives this government’s decisions.

Gavin Smart, CEO Chartered Institute of Housing, commented:

Renters are being hit particularly hard by the cost of living crisis. Social landlords are doing what they can to support residents, but too often they are still unable to afford to heat their homes. We urgently need the government to commit to uprating benefits with inflation and guaranteeing energy bills support beyond April, alongside a national insulation programme, to reduce unaffordable bills in both the short and long term.

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

Untenable cost of living hikes are forcing people with lung conditions to make impossible choices about their health, with people already reporting a sharp decline in their lung health.

Lives are at risk if the government doesn’t step in to help people with lung conditions, to provide more support for people on low incomes so they can afford to keep their homes warm this winter.

Richard Quallington, Executive Director of Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) said:

It’s not just deprived urban areas where people will be struggling to heat their homes this winter. Many rural parts of the country are also seeing large numbers of people running into difficulties, particularly those living in older homes that are not connected to mains gas.

Rachel Kirby-Rider, Chief Executive of Young Lives vs Cancer, said:

Young Lives vs Cancer have been calling on the government for years to tackle the huge costs experienced by children and young people with cancer and their families. They are disproportionately affected by the cost of living crisis, and were already experiencing unmanageable costs before bills started to rise.

When you care for a child or young person with cancer, you don’t have a choice whether to keep the heating on to keep them well. We urgently need an energy and cost of living plan that protects the poorest and most vulnerable – including children and young people with cancer.

ENDS

Omnisis surveyed 1,382 people on 21 October 2022. Results were weighted to be reflective of the GB population. Omnisis is a member of the British Polling Council. Full results can be downloaded from the following link: https://www.omnisis.co.uk/poll-results/VI-5-results-20-10-2022-energy

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]

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. [4]

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.

Chancellor in last chance saloon to fix UK’s broken energy system

Campaigners from Warm this Winter are urging the Chancellor to back real measures to fix the UK’s energy system, with a rally outside Parliament timed to coincide with the ‘mini-budget’.

Despite the UK Government’s Energy Price Guarantee, it is estimated that 7 million households – over 16 million people – across the UK will still be in fuel poverty this winter.

As well as more targeted support on bills, the coalition is calling for a coherent plan to reduce energy costs permanently through a national rollout of home insulation and a massive acceleration of renewable energy, which is now nine times cheaper than UK gas.

As the Chancellor has previously conceded, doubling down on domestic gas production, whether in the North Sea or fracking, will not lower bills.

On Friday, MPs are being invited to find out more about the campaign’s demands at an event being held in Portcullis House.

This week, more than 70 organisations called for more measures to improve energy efficiency. From energy firms to climate campaigners and from charities to professional bodies, the groups all urged the Chancellor to take action to help people keep their homes warm.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition said:

This is the last chance saloon for the Chancellor to provide the support needed by 7 million households to stay warm this winter.

Without this help millions will face the winter struggling in cold damp homes. This will cause health problems for many and place more strain on the NHS and social care system.

We need to see additional short-term measures to provide additional financial help to the most vulnerable.

But we also need to see the Chancellor investing in ending fuel poverty for good.

This can only be done by increasing support for improving the energy efficiency of people’s homes and backing Britain’s generation of cheap and clean renewable energy.

Alethea Warrington, campaigns manager at climate charity Possible, said:

The government has the chance to end the energy crisis and get the UK off gas for good. Onshore wind is now ten times cheaper than gas power, but new wind projects are still blocked in England despite being extremely popular.

A real plan for growth would tax the grotesque profits of fossil fuel companies rather than handing them hundreds of millions of pounds of our money. Then the government should get on with delivering cheap renewable energy and warmer homes.

Tessa Khan, director of Uplift, which campaigns for a just transition away from fossil fuels, said:

In every constituency across the country, many households and businesses are looking at their energy bills with dread, even with this government support, knowing that this situation is unsustainable.

We urge MPs to push for measures that will help people this winter and make sure the country is in a better position in winters to come.

Even if it were possible, more domestic gas won’t lower bills. All it will do is increase industry profits and lock us into an unaffordable energy source for longer than necessary.

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.

Its demands of government are:

  1. Emergency support now: Provide a new package of financial support to people who, without additional urgent action, will be on the front-line of poverty this winter.
  2. Help to upgrade homes: Launch a properly-funded programme of home upgrades and insulation across the UK to bring down bills and prevent energy waste.
  3. Cheap energy: More than triple the amount of renewable energy in the UK by 2030, including wind and solar generated in harmony with nature, so that we can permanently lower bills.
  4. Free us from oil and gas: Stop opening up new oil and gas fields so that we can escape our dependence on volatile fossil fuels.

Notes to editors

[1] Members of the Warm this Winter coalition will stage a ‘mini-rally’ in Parliament Square from 12.30-1.30pm, when there will be an opportunity for photographs.

There will also be a drop-in for MPs in Room P, Portcullis House from 10-12pm, where will MPs will be able to be introduced to and able to ask questions about the campaign.

Fuel poverty levels set to rocket as petition passes 100,000 mark

Over 12 million households (42%) across the UK face fuel poverty this winter, according to predictions from the End Fuel Poverty Coalition.

The estimates take into account support announced by the Government so far and are historically reflective of the definitions of fuel poverty used in official statistics.

From the price cap rise on 1 October, the estimates show that 21 million people in around 9 million homes (32%) will be affected this winter. The figures are then set to grow to around 28 million people in 12 million UK households (42%) from January 2023 unless urgent action is taken by the Government.

The figures come as over 110,000 people have already signed the Warm This Winter petition calling for immediate government action.

The petition was only launched last Friday as the Ofgem price cap for this winter was confirmed. The Warm this Winter campaign demands that the government provides more emergency money for people this winter, funding to help everyone cut their bills with better insulation, and rapidly moves the country away from expensive gas and onto cheaper, renewable energy.

The figures come as a new report by University College London’s Institute of Health Equity (IHE) predicts “a humanitarian crisis’ for children stuck in cold homes and reveals the public health crisis fuel poverty will cause.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition commented:

The IHE report backs up our worst fears about just how devastating the winter energy bills crisis will be.

The public is clamouring to be kept Warm this Winter and we need to see more emergency money for people this winter, funding to help everyone cut their bills with better insulation, and a rapid move away from expensive gas and onto cheaper, renewable energy.

Without urgent Government action, the impact of rising levels of fuel poverty on our nation will be profound and devastating.

Meanwhile, the Resolution Foundation has warned that the next prime minister’s time in office looks set to be dominated by the “terrifying” prospect of the biggest squeeze in living standards for a century.

Tessa Khan, Director of Uplift, which is part of the Warm This Winter campaign, said:

While the leadership candidates fall back on the failed fossil fuel solutions of the past, the public are demanding fresh thinking.

The thousands of people who have signed the Warm This Winter petition are proof that the public want both short term and long term solutions to the fuel poverty crisis.

We need to reject expensive, dirty, fossil fuels and embrace renewable energy and improved energy efficiency of buildings, alongside immediate financial support this winter.

Ruth London from Fuel Poverty Action, commented:

Energy producers and suppliers are making record profits from putting up prices to a level that millions will struggle to pay.

The result will be many thousands of deaths in cold damp homes, widespread health crises, cold and hungry children unable to play or do homework, and older people who can’t be discharged from hospital because their homes are not fit to live in.

The present pricing framework is upside down: the poorest customers pay the highest prices. Our Energy For All proposal would reverse this: each household will receive enough energy to cover its basic needs, paid for by higher prices for profligate energy use, and reversing the flow of taxpayers money to fossil fuel profiteers.

The spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition added:

These predictions represent figures we may expect to go on to see reported in official statistics.

The households affected in these numbers all have a real risk of making daily economic sacrifices that compromise their standard of living, with many of them at risk of health complications caused by living in a cold damp home.

Notes

Methodology, assumptions and definitions available at https://www.endfuelpoverty.org.uk/price-cap-methodology/.

Regional figures related to this measure will be published in September 2022. Millions more are also set to suffer based on more general measures of fuel poverty and fuel stress used by some academics and campaigners. The latest estimates from the University of York show that on a measure of 10% of income being spent on energy bills the numbers are 54% of households from October rising to 78% of households in January 2023. However, this is not the definition used by the different UK governments.