National Energy Action, Citizens Advice, the End Fuel Poverty Coalition and the Fuel Bank Foundation told the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee on 6 September 2023 that the coming winter is likely to be as brutal as the last, and that no equivalent of last winter's crisis support is in place.
National Energy Action's chief executive, Adam Scorer, gave MPs new analysis showing that over a million vulnerable households missed out on vital energy crisis support last winter, and that over £440 million earmarked for vulnerable households was underspent because of poor delivery of national schemes including the Energy Bills Support Scheme1. The charity's breakdown of where the money went unspent is set out below.
| Scheme | Underspend | Households missing support |
|---|---|---|
| Warm Home Discount, a £150 rebate for low income households in energy inefficient homes | £45m | 300k households affected |
| EBSS vouchers, the portion of the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme for legacy prepayment customers | £98m | At least 250k households affected |
| EBSS Alternative Funding, the portion of the £400 scheme for households without an electricity account | £301m | 760k households |
| Total | £444m | At least 1 million |
The charity said the households missing out included people in receipt of benefits living in inefficient homes who did not engage with their letter, legacy prepayment customers, and households without an energy supply contract, including Gypsy and Roma communities, boat communities and households in the private rented sector living in houses in multiple occupation1.
National Energy Action said that over 6.3 million households will be in fuel poverty across the UK from October, and that despite a modest £150 fall in energy bills for a typical household, vulnerable households still face high bills, increases to standing charges and a mountain of energy debt1. It said that unlike last winter there is no Energy Price Guarantee, no £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme and no additional targeted support to directly reduce the impact of continued high energy bills1.
"A million households who were due for support from the different bill mechanisms didn't get it and £440 million went back to the Treasury that should have gone into people's pockets. As a minimum, that money should be reinvested into directly reducing energy bills for vulnerable people this winter."
Scorer also pointed to what he described as the 70% increase in energy debt from 2020 to 2023, and said a "help to repay" scheme is needed1.
Why it matters for households
The practical effect is that the automatic support that reduced bills for millions of homes last winter has ended. The Energy Price Guarantee capped unit rates, the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme paid out in instalments, and both are closed. Households that were missed by those schemes, including some prepayment customers and homes without an electricity account, are not being written to again, and the £444 million underspend has not been redirected to bills1.
For a household's energy independence, the change shifts the burden back onto the bill payer. Standing charges remain, debt built up over the past three years remains owed, and the gap between a typical bill and what a low income household can afford is no longer bridged by a national scheme. The charities' figures suggest the households most likely to have missed support are also among the least likely to seek it out, which is the group the Citizens Advice energy help service and the fuel poverty charities exist to reach. Free advice on bills, efficiency and income maximisation is available through National Energy Action in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and through Home Energy Scotland and NI Energy Advice in those nations.
What happens next
National Energy Action has submitted proposals to HM Treasury ahead of the Autumn Statement. Its priorities are targeted energy bill support for low income and vulnerable households this winter through existing mechanisms; further reducing standing charges for prepayment customers and the premium Standard Credit customers face; a "help to repay" scheme for energy debt; restating the commitment to consult on a new mandated social tariff funded progressively from April 2024; and additional investment in domestic energy efficiency programmes1. No government response to those proposals has been reported.