Recommendations & Conclusions
5 items
1
Conclusion
Fifty-Eighth Report - Energy bills supp…
Acknowledged
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (The Department)2, the Former Permanent Secretary at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and HM Treasury about energy bills support.3 We also took …
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On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (The Department)2, the Former Permanent Secretary at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and HM Treasury about energy bills support.3 We also took evidence from Energy UK, Citizens Advice, Federation of Small Businesses and UK Hospitality.4
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Government response AI summary
The government highlights the £40 billion spent on energy support and notes it is learning lessons for future schemes. It is continuing to explore options for supporting consumers from April 2024 by improving the retail energy market and consumer standards.
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HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Fifty-Eighth Report - Energy bills supp…
Acknowledged
Some off-grid homes and businesses had to wait longer to receive support compared to the schemes to support consumers connected to the energy grid. The Department started delivering payments through the non-domestic Alternative Fuel Payment Scheme in February 2023. On 6 February 2023, it expected that eligible consumers would receive …
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Some off-grid homes and businesses had to wait longer to receive support compared to the schemes to support consumers connected to the energy grid. The Department started delivering payments through the non-domestic Alternative Fuel Payment Scheme in February 2023. On 6 February 2023, it expected that eligible consumers would receive payments during February and March 2023.14 Following our evidence session, the Department launched the application for the top-up element of the non-domestic AFP on 20 March 2023, which is available for consumers who are high users of heating oil.15
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the observation, highlighting its swift action and the inherent complexity of reaching off-grid households, and is now seeking to learn lessons for future scheme delivery.
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HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Fifty-Eighth Report - Energy bills supp…
Acknowledged
The delays to introducing support schemes for customers who use alternative fuels had a greater impact on consumers in Northern Ireland because of the higher percentage of consumers that use these fuels. More than two-thirds (68%) of households in Northern Ireland heat their homes using alternative fuel, like heating oil.16 …
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The delays to introducing support schemes for customers who use alternative fuels had a greater impact on consumers in Northern Ireland because of the higher percentage of consumers that use these fuels. More than two-thirds (68%) of households in Northern Ireland heat their homes using alternative fuel, like heating oil.16 The Former Permanent Secretary explained that, in recognition that the majority of households in Northern Ireland used alternative fuels, all households in Northern Ireland would receive a payment as part of the Alternative Fuel Payment Scheme. The Federation of Small Businesses similarly told us amongst its membership in Northern Ireland, 14% use alternative fuels, twice the UK average. We therefore asked when all eligible non-domestic customers would receive their payment. HM Treasury told us it was conscious of the importance of the Alternative Fuel 12 C&AG’s Report, paras 2.4 and 2.7 13 Qq 147–148; C&AG’s Report, para 2.12, Figure 7 14 Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy, Non- domestic Alternative Fuel Payment Scheme, Great Britain: guidance for electricity suppliers, 6 February 2023 15 C&AG’s report, para 3.7; Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy, Apply for energy bill support for non-domestic properties, 20 March 2023 16 C&AG’s Report, para 2.13 12 Energy bills support Payment Scheme in Northern Ireland given the higher proportion of businesses that were off grid, and that payments were being processed but it could not provide a forecast for when it would be fully paid out.17
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the observation, explaining its swift action and the complexities of support delivery, and states it is seeking to learn lessons for future schemes, noting that support in Northern Ireland was delivered via a single cash payment with high uptake.
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HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
Fifty-Eighth Report - Energy bills supp…
Acknowledged
We asked the Department what were the causes of other delays in getting support to customers. The Former Permanent Secretary told us that, in terms of operational challenges, the most difficult schemes were those where people were being asked to apply. For example, the Department launched its portal for 900,000 …
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We asked the Department what were the causes of other delays in getting support to customers. The Former Permanent Secretary told us that, in terms of operational challenges, the most difficult schemes were those where people were being asked to apply. For example, the Department launched its portal for 900,000 consumers without a direct relationship to a domestic energy supplier, such as those in park homes, to apply for the EBSS Alternative Funding route for both Great Britain and Northern Ireland on 27 February 2023. The Former Permanent Secretary explained that the Department needed to establish a process and identify a source of data to verify whether applicants for the EBSS Alternative Funding Route had already received support through the main EBSS.18 They also explained that a small number of households will also have to apply for the domestic Alternative Fuel Payment Scheme, for example, consumers who are fully off- grid or households who use alternative fuels for heating in areas where the majority of households are using heating methods supported by the main scheme. Subsequence to our evidence session, the Department opened its portal for these households in early March 2023.19 The delay in getting the support to off-grid consumers affected more rural homes than in urban areas. We received written evidence from the Countryside Alliance which told us that in 2020, 53% of rural homes were off the gas grid compared to just 10% of urban properties.20
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the observation, outlining its swift actions and the inherent complexity of delivering support, particularly for application-based schemes, and is seeking to learn lessons for future delivery.
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HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Fifty-Eighth Report - Energy bills supp…
Acknowledged
The Department told us that an important lesson it had learnt from the schemes was the complexity in implementing a universal scheme to reach all energy consumers living under different circumstances. The Former Permanent Secretary explained that the Department did not have enough bandwidth to look at such a complex …
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The Department told us that an important lesson it had learnt from the schemes was the complexity in implementing a universal scheme to reach all energy consumers living under different circumstances. The Former Permanent Secretary explained that the Department did not have enough bandwidth to look at such a complex market to make sure that support reached all the different groups at the same time. They said that it was a point of regret that this had often meant it took longer to ensure support reached consumers who are often vulnerable and need it most.21 The Department acknowledged that implementing the schemes at speed created value for money risks of providing support to homes and businesses that did not necessarily need it and would have been able to manage their energy costs even without support. But did not have access to a dataset necessary to determine those who did not need support.22 Providing support to prepayment meter customers
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the observation, acknowledging the complexity of reaching all consumers and that lessons learned are informing planning for future support, with the department seeking to learn lessons on delivery and communications.
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HM Treasury