The unfortunate truth though, is that average annual energy bills are almost £500 higher than at the beginning of 2022. A rumoured support package of £200 is vital, but ultimately, households will still be worse off than they were four years ago.
Unlike previous schemes such as the universal Energy Bill Support Scheme, any help should be targeted at those households with the very lowest incomes. This should be the case whether they are in work or not, as our latest longitudinal survey showed that 24% of respondents were in either full or part-time employment, yet they still struggled to afford energy.
We would like to see any financial help shown as a credit on the customer’s electricity bill. It also needs to get to the customer when their need is most acute, so ideally before or during winter, rather than afterwards. This is particularly true for prepayment meter customers who will need the extra money as soon as temperatures begin to fall if they are going to be able to top up their meter at the levels needed to keep warm.
Additional financial support will also be needed for low-income households who are off the gas grid. People heating their homes using heating oil have seen prices rise by around 50% in the past six months and this is resulting in them filling up their tanks less than they normally would. The money that the Government has previously added to the Crisis & Resilience Fund is, again, welcome but isn’t enough to bridge the gap for people who were struggling to afford to put on their heating even before prices began to soar.
