“The Chancellor promised more pounds in people’s pockets and the changes to the National Living Wage and Universal Credit announced in today’s Budget will help deliver on this promise.
“The 6.7% increase to the National Living Wage will provide a much-needed financial boost for low earners and low-income households. This group is more likely to be living in or at risk of living in fuel poverty, so any additional income to help with energy and other household bills will be hugely beneficial.
This winter we estimate that more than a quarter of a million people will turn to Fuel Bank Foundation for emergency help because they can’t afford to top-up their energy meter or fill their heating oil tank, coal bunker or log store. Sadly, many of them will be young families with children at home.
“Without our help, they will be forced to live in cold, damp homes, with no energy for heating, lighting, cooking or cleaning. As the findings of our latest Fuel Crisis Report reveal, living in a cold home can have a devastating impact on the physical health and mental wellbeing of both the young and old. Many children, for example, are forced to go to school tired, hungry and in dirty uniforms, and are condemned to a lifetime of poverty.
“We therefore welcome the Government’s decision to reduce the amount that can be taken from Universal Credit payments to repay debt, from 25% to 15% from April next year.
The move is expected to benefit 1.2 million households, including 700,000 families with children, by boosting their incomes by up to £420 a year.
“With six million households in the UK still in fuel poverty, however, more needs to be done to address the root causes of fuel crisis and to provide the strategic and tactical mitigation that’s needed.
“The Government, Ofgem, the energy sector and industry bodies must work collaboratively to make energy more affordable for all, provide more financial support and better protection for people who prepay, especially those who use alternative fuels, and upgrade the UK’s housing stock so that everyone has a good quality home that is inexpensive to heat.
“However, we appreciate the challenge of funding such a programme of measures. But, given the billions of savings that could be made each year if the problem of fuel crisis and cold homes were solved, finding a way to fund these interventions using future savings from across multiple policy areas such as health, skills and education, and the Department for Work & Pensions should be considered.
As a charity, we’re ready to work with the Government to tackle the root causes of fuel poverty and end the problem for good.
