New fuel poverty strategy for England announced

18 months after the consultation on a new fuel poverty strategy for England closed, the Government has launched “Sustainable Warmth” a new strategy designed to protect the most vulnerable households.

The End Fuel Poverty Coalition commented:

There is much to be applauded in the new strategy and we welcome many of the measures that are being introduced and the announcement of additional funding.

The updated strategy will ensure progress is made towards meeting previously missed milestones and we look forward to seeing the progress being made in the Committee on Fuel Poverty’s upcoming annual reports.

The updated fuel poverty strategy for England also takes another step in revealing the true extent of fuel poverty in the country.

More households are now classified as being in fuel poverty. But we know even more people are struggling with energy bills due to the double impact of a very cold winter and lockdown measures.

While this long term strategy is clearly not the place for short-term measures, we do urge the Government to do more to help people through the challenging, immediate, threat of severe fuel poverty this winter.