Fuel poverty plans 'don't go far enough'

10/12/2009

Measures announced in the Pre-Budget Report (PBR) yesterday (December 9th) could lower customer fuel bills and reduce money worries over the long term, according to National Energy Action (NEA).

The charity welcomed plans to introduce a boiler scrappage scheme, boost funding for Warm Front insulation grants by £150 million and increase energy suppliers' obligations to reduce bills for vulnerable customers.

NEA suggested that fuel poverty, which occurs when a household spends ten per cent or more of total income on their gas and electricity, could also be reduced.

However, the charity warned that further action was needed if the government was to meet its target of eliminating fuel poverty by 2016.

The scrappage scheme, which could affect 125,000 households, will work through customers being offered financial incentives of £400 per home to swap their old boiler for a new one.

This process increases a household's energy efficiency and can lower bills.

Jenny Saunders, chief executive of the NEA, said: "The £50 million boiler scrappage scheme, whilst a worthwhile and welcome initiative, does not begin to address the real scale of the problem.

"The announcements today will cut carbon, preserve jobs in the energy efficiency industry and help some of the most vulnerable households, but NEA believes they fall well short of what is required."

Tags; Housing Debt and Bills, Young Family Finances, Retirement Money Problems,

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