The chief executive of fuel poverty charity National Energy Action (NEA) told the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee on 6 September 2023 that over a million vulnerable households missed out on vital energy crisis support last winter. NEA analysis presented to the committee's "Preparing for the winter" session found that over £440 million earmarked to support vulnerable households was underspent because of poor delivery of national schemes including the Energy Bills Support Scheme1.
The charity's figures put the total underspend at £444 million across three schemes, with at least one million households affected. The largest shortfall was in the alternative fuel payment portion of the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme, where £301 million went unspent and 760k households without an electricity account did not receive a cash payment. A further £98 million was underspent on Energy Bills Support Scheme vouchers for legacy prepayment customers, affecting at least 250k households, and £45 million was underspent on the Warm Home Discount, affecting 300k households1.
| Scheme | Underspend | Households missing support |
|---|---|---|
| Warm Home Discount | £45m | 300k |
| EBSS vouchers | £98m | At least 250k |
| EBSS AF | £301m | 760k |
| Total | £444m | At least 1 million |
NEA said the households missing out included people on benefits living in energy inefficient homes who did not engage with their Warm Home Discount letter, legacy prepayment customers, and households without an energy supply contract such as Gypsy and Roma communities, boat communities and private rented house in multiple occupation residents1.
Adam Scorer, NEA chief executive, told the committee:
"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."
NEA said over 6.3 million households will be in fuel poverty across the UK from October. It noted that, unlike last winter, there is no Energy Price Guarantee, no £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme payment and no additional targeted support to directly reduce the impact of continued high energy bills, despite a modest £150 fall in energy bills for a typical household1. The closed Energy Bill Support payments and the Energy Price Guarantee have both ended.
Why it matters for households
The figures describe money that was allocated to reduce bills but never reached the homes it was meant for. For a household on a low income, a missed Warm Home Discount is £150 of a bill that still has to be paid, and a missed Energy Bills Support Scheme voucher or payment is £400. NEA also cited a 70 per cent increase in energy debt from 2020 to 2023, which it said cannot be resolved without tackling the arrears built up over the crisis1.
For a home's energy independence, the practical position this winter is different from last: the automatic bill reductions that softened the crisis are gone, while standing charges and debt remain. Households that never received last winter's support have no route to claim it now, because the schemes have closed. NEA's analysis suggests the households most likely to have missed out were those least able to engage with the process, including people who did not respond to correspondence and those without a standard electricity account1.
What happens next
NEA has submitted proposals to HM Treasury ahead of the Autumn Statement. Its priorities include targeted energy bill support for low income and vulnerable households this winter through existing mechanisms, a "help to repay" scheme for energy debt, and restating the commitment to consult on a new mandated social tariff funded progressively from April 20241. No government response to the committee session or to NEA's submission has been reported.