Nearly two million households in extreme fuel poverty will not receive government assistance in 2023/24. 

Researchers at the University of York compiled data for the Child Poverty Action Group, estimating that 688,000 fuel-poor households with children will be excluded. 

In addition, households in London, the North East, and the North West are more likely to be denied government assistance, according to the data. Over 1 million fuel-poor owner-occupied households and over 500,000 struggling private rental residences will no longer receive government assistance.

As of 1 April 2023, the UK Government introduced new support packages for vulnerable households to replace the Energy Bills Support Scheme and other programmes during the winter of 2022/23. The new support includes payments of up to £900 for households receiving certain benefits; the first instalments will be paid this week.

Based on government data, the End Fuel Poverty Coalition estimated that over four million households had yet to receive or redeem monthly payments of £66 or £67 from the Energy Bills Support Scheme from October 2022 to February 2023. 

End Fuel Poverty coordinator, commented: “Millions of individuals will be worse off in

“Without additional government support and a rapid increase in the energy efficiency of homes, the Dickensian conditions endured by millions this winter will be repeated.” Until Britain’s broken energy system is reformed, we will continue to see households rely on Government support to help them through the energy bills crisis.”

Professor Jonathan Bradshaw at the University of York commented: “This data answers an essential question because it indicates the limitations of using social security benefits to alleviate fuel poverty and suggests the types of households that may need to be targeted in other ways, such as through a social tariff.”

The primary cause of exclusion is the connection between cost-of-living payments and means-tested benefits.

Alison Garnham, chief executive officer of Child Poverty Action Group, stated: “The Government’s one-off cost-of-living payment is welcome, but this data shows it doesn’t go far enough. Flat-rate payments leave families with children who have higher living costs short-changed. Increasing child benefit, which lost a quarter of its value in the last decade and goes to lower and middle-income households, is the first step to ensuring struggling families have enough money to heat their homes.”

Tessa Khan, executive director of the organisation Uplift, which is a participant in the Warm This Winter campaign, added: “The Government’s rehashed policies on energy efficiency fall miles short of the national programme of insulation and home upgrades that is needed to solve the fuel poverty crisis in the longer term. Ministers also continue to deny communities access to onshore wind, one of the cheapest energy sources available and an abundant resource. 

Instead, Ministers are handing billions in subsidies to oil and gas developments that won’t lower bills or boost UK energy security, as most are oil for export. It is long past time for this government to implement real policies that address the major issues affecting people’s lives, including astronomical energy costs.”