Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 18
19th Report - Energy Bills Support
Published 28 Mar 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Energy Bills Support All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The Department said that the “biggest item of support” available to mitigate high energy prices this winter for vulnerable consumers, mainly those on benefits such as pension credit, is the Warm Home Discount scheme,47 which provides a £150 discount to eligible consumers.48 But certain vulnerable individuals like those with chronic conditions or disabilities that mean they are higher energy users are excluded from receiving this support because they are not included in the category of means–tested benefits.49 Written evidence we received from Sense showed that, on average, disabled households face energy bills 25% higher than non–disabled households; and, as of May 2024, 37% of disabled people on benefits were behind on energy bills.50 Consumer debt advice and support
From: Public Accounts Committee, 19th Report - Energy Bills Support (HC 511), 28 March 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Nineteenth Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Nineteenth report from Session 2024-26
Published 18 September 2025.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Nineteenth report from Session 2024-25
Published 10 July 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with the Committee's recommendations on lessons learned, targeted support, vulnerable consumers, electricity bills and energy supply, and disagrees with the recommendation on supplier debt advice data.
- On lessons from the evaluations, the government agrees and says that "within one month of publication" the department will write to the Committee, with evaluations to be published by Q3 2025 (target date October 2025).
- On targeting support, the government agrees (target September 2025) and says it is "taking the opportunity to review options for better targeting of future bill support" beyond March 2026, while describing data sharing as "complex matters".
- On supplier debt advice data, the government disagrees. It proposes that Ofgem, as market regulator, is "better suited than DESNZ" to collect information, and says the review of Ofgem aims to publish its outcomes in autumn 2025.
- On rebalancing electricity and gas costs, the government agrees (target July 2025) and says it "will set out proposals for rebalancing domestic energy bills in due course". It adds that it is operating in a "difficult fiscal environment".