Category: News

New chancellor set to axe Energy Price Guarantee from April

Fuel poverty campaigners have reacted with shock to news that the new Chancellor will end the Energy Price Guarantee in April 2023.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition commented:

The country was already facing a financial cliff edge in April due to plans to end other support packages, but this cliff edge has now become even steeper.
Without the Energy Price Guarantee, the Government will need to fundamentally reform the energy market alongside providing unprecedented levels of support for energy efficiency schemes and financial support for the most vulnerable.
But any threat to people’s energy security is a threat to their health and wellbeing. If people cannot trust the Government to deliver the support it has promised, what trust can anyone have that they will keep people warm this winter and beyond?
The need for the Government to provide additional support for the most vulnerable this winter has also not disappeared and we hope the Treasury quickly acts to reassure households.

Chaitanya Kumar, head of environment and the green transition at the New Economics Foundation, commented:

The biggest surprise in the chancellor’s statement is to scale back the energy price guarantee, the government’s flagship support programme. The unfrozen price cap is now expected to rise above £6,000 from April 2023, which creates a massive cliff edge for families.

The government should get support where it’s most needed and fix our broken energy market. One way of doing this is by entitling every family to a basic amount of universal energy at free or subsidised rates.

This can ensure that nobody is left to make choices between heating and eating while encouraging those who can afford it to reduce their energy use.

But the only long-term solution to real energy security is to help people cut their energy demand and the first step is to help insulate our homes.

There is still time to roll out an emergency insulation programme this winter that can save both families and the treasury billions.

Henry Gregg, Director of External Affairs at Asthma + Lung UK, said:

Removing the energy price guarantee will spark fear in people living with long-term lung conditions, such as asthma and COPD, who need to keep their homes warm to survive.

People who were already struggling with rising energy bills are now hanging on by a thread with no safety net in place beyond next spring. Millions of people in this country are already living in fuel poverty and an end to the bill freeze in April could negatively impact many, many more.

Lives are already being lost, the Government must act now to prevent further damage. It must commit to helping people with lung conditions, who need warm homes to survive, and provide financial support for people facing extra energy bills for life-saving medical equipment.

Juliet Philips from the E3G think tank tweeted:

▶️Essential gov gets ‘targeting’ right – huge risk that millions could fall through gap with simple metrics
▶️£2.5k is untenable for fuel poor – quantum must be increased for vulnerable
▶️Must boost investment in long-term solutions to lower bills; home retrofits & renewables https://t.co/8b19IDZghZ— Juliet Phillips (@_JulietPhillips) October 17, 2022

While National Energy Action called the plan, said the almighty trade-off “may provide confidence and certainty for markets, it could cause anxiety and doubt for households” leaving families “clinging on by their fingertips.”

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, said:

It’s been hard keeping up with all the fiscal policy changes the last few days, but they seem to leave us in a position now in which nothing is guaranteed and with the Government increasingly warning of ‘hard choices to come’. This chilling outlook will be a huge concern for our older population, with only the healthiest and wealthiest able to view the future with equanimity.

Pensioners on low and modest incomes, or with high costs, have the most to worry about and for their sake we urge the Government to raise benefits in line with prices, not wages, and to extend help far enough up the income range so that the group once referred to by their party as ‘just about managing’, (i.e. not just those living below the poverty line) also get some support. The truth is that all these groups of older people, numbering several million, need an injection of additional cash to see them through the winter, not only from April 2023 onwards, when we trust that Ministers will keep their promise to reinstate the triple lock. Without more support between now and the spring though, the prospects for pensioners on low and modest incomes and with no savings are bleak, and we cannot see how they will be able to afford to buy even the basics. Without more help it seems certain that some will sink into deep hardship this winter unlike anything most of us have seen before.

Older people depend on being able to access good quality health and social care, and with the quality and availability of these services already severely compromised by shortages of staff and funding, the idea that there could be any further cuts to them is inconceivable. Both need more resources and a long-term sustainable plan for the future, not further cuts and uncertainty.

Like most of the older people we exist to help, at Age UK we are incredibly worried about what may be to come, and we implore the Government to stand with our older population through this crisis.

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.

Electricity markets must be fairly priced for consumers

The End Fuel Poverty Coalition has responded to the Government’s Review of Electricity Market Arrangements with a call that reform must harness the benefits of net zero, reduce risks of price volatility and deliver a secure supply to consumers.

The Consultation closed on 10 October and among the issues up for discussion was how the cost of electricity is determined.

Currently, the energy market is underpinned by “marginal pricing” – meaning that the price per unit (kWh) of electricity is determined by the last energy source delivered onto the grid to meet demand in any given half hour period.

In practice, this is often the cost of gas power station produced electricity, not renewable energy. Yet, renewables make up the biggest proportion of the energy mix (38.7%, BEIS) and are nine times cheaper than gas-fired power stations.

Therefore the Coalition’s response urged the Government to unlink the cost of energy from gas:

As the UK transitions away from fossil fuels, the cost of natural gas, coal and oil should no longer be the dominant factor in determining the price consumers pay for their electricity.

It is crucial that consumers reap the benefits of cheaper renewable electricity sources and no longer have their unit rates determined by volatile fossil fuel prices.

Therefore, we support reforms to the marginal pricing system as long as the Government devises a mechanism for ensuring this provides a reduction in consumer costs and maintains consistency of supply.

In its response, the Coalition welcomed plans to reform the energy market and the Government’s commitment to reliability and affordability.

However, the Coalition adds that the Government “must ensure the needs of vulnerable consumers – and those already in fuel poverty – are better accounted for in these plans.”

Given concerns about possible energy blackouts this winter, the consultation response calls for decarbonisation of the energy grid, security of supply and lower costs for consumers to ensure households are protected from wholesale price volatility. The Coalition added that:

Demand must always be matched by supply, particularly for the most vulnerable consumers such as isolated rural communities and those relying on life saving medical equipment.

The response calls for the Government to successfully utilise the UK’s extensive renewable energy resources and deliver them to consumers through the electricity grid so to help mitigate price volatility and ensure we have a more secure energy future.

Part of this is ensuring that the country harnesses the power of renewables like wind and solar. But the consultation response also calls for measures to avoid continued reliance on fossil fuel backups to meet peak demand by improving the UK’s energy storage capacity.

Blackouts an intolerable situation say campaigners

Commenting on reports that the UK may be subject to rolling black outs or enforced energy cuts, a spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition commented:

We need to ensure we have enough supply to help the most vulnerable.

People such as the disabled and elderly or those using respirators, can’t just turn off their energy use. They are already in fuel poverty and keeping usage to a minimum, so it will be life threatening in some situations.

While there may be some scope for some households to reduce usage and save energy, we should not be encouraging self-disconnection or forcing people to live in cold damp homes.

The Government needs to realise that its obsession with fossil fuels has led us to this point and increasing our reliance on them is not the way to end the energy crisis.

This intolerable situation shows that the faster we move to renewables and an improved energy market, the better.

We need a plan to improve energy efficiency, develop more sustainable ways of keeping people warm every winter and for a long term shift away from gas and onto more renewable energy.

 

Homes to see energy prices surge overnight

As the fall-out continues from the Chancellor’s mini-Budget, new analysis of the impact of the Energy Price Guarantee has revealed a stark winter facing millions of people.

The Government’s plan only caps the cost per unit that households pay, with actual bills still determined by how much energy is consumed.

The End Fuel Poverty Coalition calculates that the combined electricity and gas unit cost of energy will surge for households by between 23% and 27% overnight on Friday. [1]

The level of surge depends on the type of payment method and where people live in the country.

When standing charges are also included in the analysis, those on standard credit will pay 12% more and those on pre-payment meters 11% more than those on direct debit.

While the Energy Bills Support Scheme will lower peoples bills by GBP400 in the short-term, this saving expires in April 2023 creating a fresh hike in people’s bills. For households on benefits, the additional support they have had since May 2022 will also expire early in 2023 making the impact even more severe. [2]

Campaigners have urged the public to take meter readings tonight and submit them to their energy suppliers to ensure they do not incur additional costs caused by the increased unit prices from 1 October 2022.

In addition, the End Fuel Poverty Coalition has urged the Government to go further in support for energy efficiency measures.

In last week’s mini-Budget, over GBP1bn additional funding was pledged to improve insulation of peoples’ homes over the next three years. New estimates show that this falls far short of the additional GBP5bn energy efficiency investment needed.

Meanwhile, the number of UK households in fuel poverty will increase from 7 million from 1 October to nearer 8m from 1 April 2023 as the Energy Bills Support Scheme runs out.

Frazer Scott, CEO of Energy Action Scotland, commented:

This week, every household across the UK must make sure it submits a meter reading to their energy firm to avoid paying a penny more than they absolutely have to when prices go up on 1 October.

Fuel poverty is at record levels, levels of energy efficiency improvements are simply too low to provide respite and financial support is just a sticking plaster on the deepest of wounds.

As unit costs for electricity and gas push bills higher still in October, communities will suffer and take years to recover. Meanwhile the impact of fuel poverty will be felt on the NHS and social care system and lives will be needlessly lost.

Asthma + Lung UK has recently seen calls to the charity’s helpline from people needing advice for help with their finances or benefits soar by 89% [3]. Dr Andrew Whittamore, Clinical Lead at Asthma + Lung UK and a practising GP, said:

Winter is the deadliest season for people with lung conditions. Cold homes are very dangerous for people with lung conditions because they provide the perfect environment for respiratory infections to thrive.

This situation is untenable and Asthma + Lung UK is urging the government to provide targeted financial support to help people with lung conditions with the rising cost of bills and living.

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

The government’s massive energy bill bailout is costing us a fortune but doesn’t fix the problem at its root: millions of people will still be forced into impossible choices by soaring gas prices and still we have no credible plan from the government to wean the UK off volatile fossil fuels.

With homegrown renewables now nine times cheaper than UK gas, it is 100% in the national interest to accelerate all forms of cheap, renewable energy so that we don’t find ourselves facing the same energy bill crisis in years to come.

Rhi Hughes, Community Engagement Manager, South West London Law Centres said:

All of us will have a lack of control this winter. It won’t be a case of ‘well, I just won’t put the heating on’ or ‘I will use minimum electricity today’ to get us out of this. Although cutting down fuel use will help, our standing charges are going to sharply increase. If we can’t top up our pre-payment meters we will be getting into debt with our service charges and that debt will keep growing.

Such a range of households are going to be hit so hard by the increase. Homeowners in homes that need repairs have leaks, windows that don’t shut, doors that don’t close and they are just going to freeze as they don’t have the money to fix the problem or to put the heating on.

Some tenants are forced to live in such bad condition housing that there is nothing they can do to keep heat in as there are large cracks in walls or ceilings. It is the responsibility of the landlords to fix these issues but they don’t – especially housing association and council tenants. These large authorities are exasperating the crisis for the people they are paid rent by.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, added:

The Government has created a double dose of pain for households. Many will be hit with the rising energy bills immediately, with another dose of pain inflicted when the financial support runs out by April 2023.

We need action now to reassure people that support will continue next year and urgent action to improve the energy efficiency of our homes into the future.

Notes

[1]

Price cap unit rates chart
All financial numbers are quoted in p
DIRECT DEBIT
Cost from 1 Oct 22 Cost until 30 Sep 22 INCREASE FROM SUMMER 22
GAS UNIT (kwh) 10.3 7.37 39.76%
GAS SC 28.49 27.22 4.67%
ELEC UNIT 34 28.34 19.97%
ELEC SC 46.36 45.34 2.25%
1 day of both fuels & 1 kwh used of both fuels 119.15 108.27 10.05%
1 unit of each 44.3 35.71 24.05%
PRE PAYMENT METERS
From 1 Oct Until 1 Oct INCREASE
GAS UNIT (kwh) 10.63 7.36 44.43%
GAS SC 37.51 37.28 0.62%
ELEC UNIT (kwh) 33.08 28.11 17.68%
ELEC SC 51.41 50.27 2.27%
1 day of both fuels & 1 kwh used of both fuels 132.63 123.02 7.81%
1 unit of each 43.71 35.47 23.23%
Uplift from DD 13.48 14.75
% Uplift from DD 11.31% 13.62%
STANDARD CREDIT
From 1 Oct Until 1 Oct INCREASE
GAS UNIT (kwh) 11.12 7.76 43.30%
GAS SC 33.54 32 4.81%
ELEC UNIT (kwh) 36.8 29.85 23.28%
ELEC SC 52.4 51.16 2.42%
1 day of both fuels & 1 kwh used of both fuels 133.86 120.77 10.84%
1 unit of each 47.92 37.61 27.41%
Uplift from DD 14.71 12.5
% Uplift from DD 12.35% 11.55%
Original data unit cost source: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/what-are-the-price-cap-unit-rates-/

Combinations, increases and uplifts calculated by End Fuel Poverty Coalition

[2] ​​

Average household bills under Ofgem Price Cap (*) and Energy Price Guarantee (**). All financial numbers quoted are in GBP. “Average household (hh)” Average hh increase Those hh getting max Govt support, average hh rate Those hh getting max Govt support, % increase
Oct-21* 1277 1277
Apr-22* 1971 54.35% 1571 23.02%
Oct-22** 2100 6.54% 1700 8.21%
Apr-23** 2500 19.05% 2500 47.06%
Increase Winter 2021/22 to Summer 2023 96% 96%
Increase Winter 2021/22 to Winter 2022/23 64% 33%

[3] Asthma + Lung UK internal figures. Comparison August 2021 to August 2022. Website traffic on these topics also surged year-on-year by 63%.

Mini-Budget minimal on help for those in fuel poverty

As the Chancellor unveiled his mini-Budget, there was little immediate support for households in fuel poverty. However, some positive moves on energy efficiency and renewables have been given a qualified welcomed by campaigners.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition commented:

The Chancellor’s mini-Budget was especially minimal on the support needed to keep people warm this winter.

Even with the measures pledged by the Government so far, there is now just a week to go until energy bills increase by 64% compared to last winter.

The start of the Chancellor’s ‘new era’ will see 7 million households left facing desperate fuel poverty this winter.

Millions of people will spend 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.

Millions will face additional hardship due to the unfair standing charges regime and being forced onto more expensive pre-payment meters.

Hidden away in the small print of the Chancellor’s Plan for Growth is an announcement to expand the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) – which requires energy companies to install energy saving measures in fuel poor homes – with a £1bn boost over three years, starting from next April.

The new funding will be targeted at those most vulnerable, and made available for the least efficient homes in lower council tax bands. In addition, the government will also ‘imminently open applications for up to £2.1 billion over the next two years to support local authorities, housing associations, schools and hospitals invest in energy efficiency and renewable heating.’

While the ECO expansion will provide vital relief for the households that stand to benefit, alone it cannot shift the dial on the resilience of UK households to energy price shocks now or in future.

Experts at E3G estimate it is about a fifth of the amount needed to be spent on green building measures and the opportunity was missed to meet the Home Upgrade Grant Conservative manifesto pledge – which is still £1.4 billion short of what should have been committed to 2025.

Juliet Phillips, Senior Policy Advisor at E3G, commented:

The cold and leaky nature of Britain’s homes and buildings have left families sharply exposed to volatile international fossil fuel markets and spiralling energy bills.

Today’s small top-up to expand energy efficiency support is welcome step which will help cut household bills and boost the UK’s energy security.

We hope to see the government go further and faster to unleash the full potential that energy efficiency has to offer to protect UK households from future energy shocks.

Members of the Warm This Winter campaign, Possible, have also highlighted how the mini-Budget appears to have positive news for renewables with an end to the effective ban on building on-shore wind in England.

However, there was little detail on how the nation’s books will be balanced. A spokesperson for Greenpeace commented:

Failing to properly tax the obscene profits of fossil fuel giants and encouraging bankers to get richer is reckless and unfair.

Rather than seeking to deregulate and attack those on benefits, the new Chancellor should be looking for ways to raise taxes on those profiting from the crisis.

This could help fund emergency support for households, and cover the vital investment needed in home insulation to help cut our energy bills and climate emissions once and for all.

Ministers are ignoring common-sense, win-win solutions to bring down bills and carbon emissions – things like stopping energy waste, heat-pumps and solar panels.

Instead of boosting the economy through investments in green infrastructure, public services and skills training, the government’s plan is little more than a charter for fossil fuel profits and casino capitalism.

Earlier this week, Age UK analysis found that from October 2022, around three in ten older households in England will be living in fuel poverty, including 1.3m lower income older households.

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, commented:

Our new analysis shows that the Government’s relief package will not do enough to prevent approaching two million more pensioners from being plunged into fuel poverty in a couple of weeks’ time.

Most worrying of all, in excess of half a million of them are already living on lower incomes, so they will be in an impossible position financially, unless the Government does more to help.

However hard they try their income is not going to stretch far enough to cover the essentials any more.

Can you imagine how terrifying this prospect is if you are an older person on a low fixed income who has just about managed so far? Once they realise what a deep financial hole they are about to be in our biggest concern is that some will cut their spending to such a degree that it puts them at risk.

The Chartered Institute of Housing has also recently written to the Prime Minister for urgent government action to:

  • Bring forward the planned uprating of benefits from next April to this October
  • Limit deductions from Universal Credit for prior overpayments/sanctions
  • Remove the benefit cap and two-child limit
  • Restore local housing allowance rates to at least the 30th percentile and return to annual uprating
  • Prevent energy companies from forcibly switching customers to prepayment meters
  • Commit to bring forward additional funding for energy efficiency measures in homes

Notes

The average household bill in winter 2021/22 was GBP1277. This has increased to GBP2,100 for winter 2022/23, taking into account the support promised so far. For some of the most vulnerable households, the increase will be limited to an average household bill of GBP1,700 this winter – still representing a 33% increase year-on-year. Please note, the Energy Price Guarantee caps the unit cost of energy, not the total bill.

In winter 2021/22, the End Fuel Poverty Coalition estimates 4.6m UK households were in fuel poverty (based on official definitions). This will rise to 6.99m in winter 2022/23.

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.

Coalition reacts to Energy Price Guarantee announcement

Despite the UK Government’s Energy Price Guarantee, the End Fuel Poverty Coalition estimates that 7m households across the UK will be in fuel poverty this winter.

A spokesperson from the End Fuel Poverty Coalition commented:

While many households will benefit from the price cap freeze, the Prime Minister offered no detail of any additional support for the millions of households who will be left behind in fuel poverty this winter.

Many of these people are struggling already and include those who are elderly, disabled or with pre-existing health conditions. Without more support to keep them warm this winter, the pressures on the NHS and social care system will increase.

And without further investment in measures such as energy efficiency for those homes worst affected by fuel poverty and renewables, the plans will just be an expensive sticking plaster.

Adam Scorer, chief executive of fuel poverty charity National Energy Action (NEA) said:

The UK government’s plan to freeze energy bills means the average household will pay around £2,500 a year, instead of the predicted £3,549 average a year. This will bring huge relief. It means more than 24 million households will face lower bills this winter. And it could help stop over 2 million households from being plunged into fuel poverty.

However, despite the good news, many households in serious fuel poverty need more than reassurance about future prices, they need rescuing from current prices.

Just over 12 months ago the average annual bill was just £1,271. Even with this price freeze the average bill has doubled in a year. Last year 4.5 million UK households were fuel poor, now we predict that it will be 6.7 million – far better than the 8.9 million without support, but still more needs to be done. In particular, measures need to work for households in Northern Ireland who are outside the GB energy market and its price cap.

The new Government must not forget that the most vulnerable need targeted support. Those who use more energy in their homes because of medical conditions, those who are elderly and those on very low incomes need extra help so they don’t have to ration their usage, putting their physical and mental health at risk. Those on prepayment meters must not be forgotten either. They would benefit from a lower rate or additional relief from huge standing charges.

We hope too, that longer term the Prime Minister will focus on greater investment in energy efficiency. It not only saves consumers money and makes homes warm and safe places to live, it creates jobs, provides an economic return to the Treasury and reduces strain and costs for our stretched health services.

Jess Ralston from ECIU commented:

The PM’s plan delivers on emergency bill help this winter, but lacks any kind of plan for dealing with the root cause that expensive gas and poor quality homes are costing bill and tax payers billions.

Every pound spent by Treasury on insulation this winter could pay back by the next election by cutting the £150bn energy price freeze bill landing on the exchequer. It’s simple, using less gas improves our security and lowers our bills.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation told the BBC that there will still be an  £800 gap between the overall rise in the cost of living and the support package that the poorest families were receiving. JRF chief analyst Peter Matejic said:

The government’s energy price freeze headed off a stratospheric predicted price increase from October, but struggling households remain extremely worried about how they are supposed to fill this gap.

This shows Liz Truss’s job isn’t done. When she unveils further plans as part of her fiscal statement she must remember the many low income families suffering in hardship.

Warm This Winter campaign members, The Wildlife Trusts tweeted their opposition to the Government’s plans to include fracking as part of the plans:

More reaction from members of the Coalition to follow.

Almost total fuel poverty in some areas, despite price freeze plan

Some areas of the country risk seeing almost every home in fuel poverty without a comprehensive plan from the new Prime Minister. [1]

Even taking into account rumoured plans for a freeze on energy bills, over twenty neighbourhoods in Birmingham, Bradford, Coventry, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Stoke and Wolverhampton could see fuel poverty rates of over 75 per cent of households from 1 October 2022. Some will reach close to every household in the area. [2]

Hundreds of other areas across swathes of the country – from Southampton to Middlesborough and from Essex to Lancaster – will also see significant levels of fuel poverty this winter. [3]

As the new Cabinet finalises plans for the support package for households this winter, the figures highlight how parts of the country will experience fuel poverty differently.

A briefing to MPs and Peers from the Warm this Winter campaign calls on Parliamentarians to push for a coherent plan to tackle the energy bills crisis through a national rollout of home insulation and affordable renewables to wean the country off gas. [4]

The campaign is also demanding that the new government provides more direct emergency financial support for everyone this winter, but particularly low-income households.

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

We need to see the right support get through to the right people.

The Government’s plans focus on offering welcome universal support through a price freeze, but we also need additional help for the millions of households in fuel poverty who are already struggling.

These new figures show this can vary significantly by region and by property type.Any investment this winter also needs to include long-term solutions such as a support for energy efficiency and a boost for renewables to help move the country away from fossil fuels.

Jacky Peacock, Head of Policy at Advice for Renters said:

Renters are particularly hard hit as inflation and scarcity of private rented homes are pushing up rents at an unprecedented rate, leaving little or nothing to spend on energy bills. Without the right action from the Government, we risk seeing a huge explosion in homelessness.

Rachael Williamson, Head of Policy and External Affairs at the Chartered Institute of Housing, said:

Social landlords across the country are taking a range of actions to support vulnerable residents under financial strain where they can, but there is a limit to what the housing sector can do.

The pressures are so great that many households now have negative budgets, even after all avenues of support have been exhausted. Many social housing providers are themselves challenged by above inflation cost increases.

Urgent support is needed, targeted to help people on the lowest incomes and substantial enough to meet the scale of the challenge.

Graham Duxbury, Chief Executive of community environmental charity Groundwork, said:

Rising levels of fuel poverty are creating a public health emergency. The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the stark health inequalities in our communities and without urgent action from the government these will become even more extreme.

Every day, our energy advisers visit people who are unable to heat their homes, leading to problems with damp and mould. The physical impact on health can be devastating and fuel poverty also damages people’s mental health.

On local authority level, the areas that will be worst affected are, Barnsley, Birmingham, Coventry, Hull, Leicester, Manchester, Nottingham, Norwich, Sandwell, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton. The whole of West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire as well as Liverpool, Newcastle-under-Lyme, North East Lincolnshire, Scarborough, and the London boroughs of Newham and Barking & Dagenham will also be hit hard with a GBP2,500 price cap.

Cara Jenkinson, Cities Manager at climate solutions charity Ashden, which is part of the Warm This Winter campaign, added:

The Government must fund local insulation programmes in the areas where fuel poverty is highest, and councils should not have to compete against each other for this funding. We need a rapid scale up of energy efficient retrofit which will insulate people against further price rises, cut carbon and create jobs across the country.

The Warm This Winter petition supporting the campaign’s demands has been signed by 120,000 people since it was launched last weekend while Fuel Poverty Action’s petition for Energy For All, a free allocation of energy to meet each household’s needs, has been signed by 557,000 people and will be delivered to the new Prime Minister on 19 September.

Ruth London from Fuel Poverty Action said:

People of all ages are being robbed of even the essentials of life while massive energy corporations chalk up undreamed of profits.

Over half a million have signed our petition for Energy For All: The energy to ensure we can heat and light our homes must be free and guaranteed, and the money must come from the industry that is causing this crisis to begin with.

People who can well afford to pay extra should no longer pay a lower price than those who are frightened to turn on a light in damp, poorly insulated bedsits.

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

Our failure to get off gas for good is fuelling the energy costs and climate crises. Drilling for more gas would totally fail to alleviate the unaffordable energy costs that are pushing people into poverty, as any gas would take decades to come online and would then be sold in global markets.

But we do have a solution – clean, cheap, domestic renewable energy like onshore wind and solar, which can come online quickly and is around a tenth of the cost of gas power.

Renewables are popular across the UK, and it’s past time for the government to get on with delivering them.

The Warm This Winter campaign launched on 26 August in response to the growing energy bills crisis. The 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.

New modelling by Tax Justice UK, found that a 95% excess profits tax on North Sea oil and gas companies could raise up to £44 billion a year for two years and would almost cover the cost of living package the government is set to announce.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

[1] Estimates for the previous price cap announcements show that from 1 October, 21 million people in around 9 million homes (32%) will be in fuel poverty this winter based on levels of support pledged up to 05.09.22 and are reflective of the definitions of fuel poverty used in official statistics. The figures were 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.

Based on multiple media reports of a “price freeze” of energy bills at a level of GBP2,500 from 1 October 2022 (and with the GBP400 promised support, this falls to GBP2,100), the End Fuel Poverty Coalition estimates that 16.4 million people in 6.9 million UK households will still be left in fuel poverty in winter 2022/23 without government support. c.5.3 million of these households will be in England.

Regional data for England based on LSOA level calculations or local authority / metropolitan authority level. Methodology, assumptions and definitions available at https://www.endfuelpoverty.org.uk/price-cap-methodology/ (page being updated with latest figures, but assumptions and methodology remain).

Millions more are also set to suffer based on more general measures of fuel poverty and fuel stress used by some academics and campaigners.

[2] Selection of the neighbourhoods of the country in almost total fuel poverty from 1 October 2022. Based on 23 out of 32,844 LSOA areas.

Birmingham: https://mapit.mysociety.org/area/154406.html

Stoke on Trent: https://mapit.mysociety.org/area/114803.html

Leeds: https://mapit.mysociety.org/area/77587.html

Sheffield: https://mapit.mysociety.org/area/74208.html

Hull: https://mapit.mysociety.org/area/79055.html

Coventry: https://mapit.mysociety.org/area/75782.html

Wolverhampton: https://mapit.mysociety.org/area/76624.html

[3] Over 400 (411) neighbourhoods will see fuel poverty at levels exceeding 55% of households.

[4] Briefing note to Members of Parliament – link here. Briefing note on the Energy Bill for Members of the House of Lords – link here.

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. 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.

New PM and politicians urged to support genuine solutions to energy crisis

The new Prime Minister, MPs and Peers are being urged to back calls by campaigners to lower energy bills.

A briefing to MPs and Peers from the Warm this Winter campaign calls on Parliamentarians to push for a coherent plan to wean the UK off gas through a national rollout of home insulation and affordable renewables.

The campaign is also demanding that the new government provides more direct emergency financial support for everyone this winter, but particularly low-income households.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition commented:

If the new Prime Minister is serious about dealing with energy bills and the long term issues of energy supply, the Government must back plans for lower energy bills now and in the future.

That means 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.

A Warm This Winter petition supporting the campaign’s demands has been signed by 120,000 people since it was launched last weekend.

The rapidly growing campaign is working with Peers to table a series of amendments to the Government’s flagship Energy Bill, which starts Committee Stage in the Lords today, that would force the new Prime Minister to reduce the UK’s dependency on global gas markets.

Briefing note to Members of Parliament – link here.

Briefing note on the Energy Bill for Members of the House of Lords – link here.

In response to the crisis, Liz Truss has pledged to “exploit all of the gas in the North Sea” as well as supporting fracking where there is the consent of communities.

Experts have warned that increasing domestic gas production would do next to nothing to lower energy bills. In a speech this week, Boris Johnson also expressed doubt that fracked gas would “prove to be a panacea” for the energy crisis. Instead, he noted that offshore wind is the cheapest form of electricity in the UK and is now nine times cheaper than UK gas.

Tessa Khan, director of Uplift said:

In every constituency across the country, households and businesses are looking at their energy bills with dread, knowing that they cannot fix this on their own.

Finally, MPs now have an opportunity 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, including Save the Children, WWF and the End Fuel Poverty Coalition. 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.

Members of the Warm this Winter coalition wrote to the Conservative leadership candidates in July urging them to use the summer to come up with credible proposals for ensuring that every household could afford to heat their home this winter and – with gas prices expected to stay high until at least 2025 – for lowering energy costs in future.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition concluded:

We urge MPs to back these calls for genuine solutions to help people this winter and in future, and to ignore the special pleading of the oil and gas industry.

The seriousness of this crisis demands that they back measures that will tangibly make a difference to people’s lives.