Labour is under pressure to expand the Warm Home Discount, potentially extending a £150 discount to an additional 2.7 million households, including nearly one million with children.
This follows yesterday’s Price Cap increase with household energy bills in the UK set to rise by 6.4% from April, pushing the average bill to £1,849 annually.
The rise occurs amidst record levels of energy debt, with Citizens Advice reporting nearly seven million people in debt to their energy suppliers.
Dame Clare Moriarty of Citizens Advice called for targeted governmental support:
We’re particularly concerned about households with children, where over one in three struggle to afford bills, rising to more than half of those on low incomes.
“The government can’t let another winter go by without targeted support for those most in need, and there is a way of paying for this. Our recent analysis found energy network companies made billions in excess profits while households have faced soaring bills and it’s only right this money be used to help fund better targeted bill support and much-needed debt relief.”
Consumers face on average a £111 increase per household for the year, or approximately £9.25 monthly. If the discount is raised it would increase the total recipients to approximately 6.1 million.
Bring back the Winter Fuel Payment?
Caroline Abrahams CBE, Charity Director at Age UK said Labour should rethink it’s scrapping of the universal Winter Fuel Payment as millions of elderly face crippling bills to stay warm.
This is terrible news for older people and yet another blow for those on low or modest fixed incomes who lost their Winter Fuel Payment when they really couldn’t afford it. The fact that all the experts are saying the cost of energy is likely to keep on rising will strike real fear in the hearts of many pensioners, who are still grappling with the challenge of getting through this winter with their health and finances intact.”
She added: “Older people must not be subjected to similar misery again next winter. As energy prices are rising with no end in sight they need to be better protected. To achieve this Ministers have several choices.
“They could re-instate the Winter Fuel Payment for older people who receive a wider range of benefits than just Pension Credit; they could reform and significantly extend eligibility for the Warm Home Discount; they could bring in a social tariff to give people of all ages on low incomes or with high costs due to disability a guaranteed discounted energy deal; or they could pursue a combination of these kinds of measures. Doing nothing is not a viable option however in the face of these constantly spiralling bills.”
