Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Acknowledged
Warm Homes Discount insufficient; widespread support for a more generous social tariff.
Conclusion
Direct reductions in energy bills ensure that money is spent on energy, giving pensioners the confidence needed to turn the heating on. This is currently provided through the Warm Homes Discount, which provides a discount of £150 on bills for households on means-tested benefits. There is general agreement that this does not go far enough. There are many people on fuel poverty but not in receipt of means-tested benefits and the amount is insufficient to meet a fuel poverty gap of £400 (£700 in rural areas). There is widespread support for a scheme to provide more generous discounts on bills to a wider range of people (sometimes referred to as a ‘social tariff’). (Conclusion, Paragraph 94)
Government Response Summary
The government announced the expansion of the Warm Home Discount to 6 million households this winter and acknowledges that those not on means-tested benefits miss out on support due to data availability. It is working on data matching and will detail its approach in a new Fuel Poverty Strategy later this year.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The Government recently announced the expansion of the Warm Home Discount this winter to bring around 2.7 million additional households on qualifying means-tested benefits into the scheme. We anticipate that the total number of households that will receive the discount in the upcoming winter will increase to around 6 million. We know more needs to be done to support households struggling with their bills and that data availability is a key barrier. The Committee rightly points to the issue that those who are not on means-tested benefits are missing out on support. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero continues to work with other key departments – including the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Cabinet Office, HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Health and Social Care on the matter of data matching. We plan to set out more details of our approach to data and the targeting of future bill support and energy efficiency support schemes in the new Fuel Poverty Strategy which is due to be published later this year. The energy regulator, Ofgem, have also recently published their Call for Input on their Cost Allocation Review which is looking at different approaches to paying for energy.