The Energy Price Guarantee and the cost of living payments end on 31 March 2024, the End Fuel Poverty Coalition said in its response to the Spring 2024 Budget. The coalition, an independent campaign body, said the two schemes now join the Energy Bills Support Scheme among the support measures that have closed1.
The coalition said the Budget extended the windfall tax on energy firms and the Household Support Fund, but only for limited periods, and that the Household Support Fund extension runs for six months and ends before next winter1. It also said the Budget contained no new funding for energy efficiency support1.
"The Energy Price Guarantee and the cost of living payments now join the Energy Bills Support Scheme on a bonfire of policies that were helping people with surging energy bills."
The coalition said the price households pay for energy is still 60 per cent higher than in 2021 and that energy debt levels are soaring1. It cited economists' estimates that the windfall tax has shaved £18bn off the cost of extracting fossil fuels over the next three years through increased tax relief allowances for energy firms, and said that loophole must be closed1. Warm This Winter spokesperson Fiona Waters said energy companies make a billion pounds in profit each week1.
On older households, Joanna Elson CBE, chief executive of Independent Age, said the cost of living payments have ended and that older people in financial hardship are already at breaking point1. She said the Government reiterated its commitment to uprate Pension Credit, but that up to 880,000 households missed out on support and an uptake strategy is needed1. She also said pensioner poverty has been rising steadily since 20121.
| Measure | Status after the Budget |
|---|---|
| Energy Price Guarantee | Ends 31 March 20241 |
| Cost of living payments | End 31 March 20241 |
| Energy Bills Support Scheme | Already closed1 |
| Household Support Fund | Extended six months, ending before next winter1 |
| Windfall tax on energy firms | Extended for a limited period1 |
| Energy efficiency funding | No new funding1 |
Why it matters for households
The Energy Price Guarantee capped the unit cost of gas and electricity for households. Its closure means the price a home pays is set by the price cap and by the wholesale market rather than by the guarantee, at a time when the coalition says bills remain 60 per cent above 2021 levels1. The ending of the cost of living payments removes a direct cash transfer that many households used to meet bills, and the closed energy bill support payments that preceded them are already gone1.
For a household's energy independence, the practical effect is that less of the bill is shielded by government support and more depends on the home's own consumption, its tariff and its fabric. The coalition's point that no new funding went to energy efficiency bears on that directly: measures that cut demand, such as insulation, reduce exposure to unit prices, and the Budget did not add money for them1. The Household Support Fund, extended for six months, is administered locally rather than as an energy-specific payment, and the coalition said it ends before next winter1. Help that remains available varies by nation, with separate routes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
What happens next
The Energy Price Guarantee and the cost of living payments end on 31 March 20241. The Household Support Fund extension runs for six months from that point, ending before next winter1. The windfall tax extension covers a limited period that the coalition did not specify1. The coalition said the Budget failed to meet in full any of the recommendations in its budget submission, and repeated its call for a single energy social tariff and water social tariff1.
Sources1 cited
- Reaction to Spring 2024 Budget, endfuelpoverty.org.uk