Member

The noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, asked why we were expanding it to more, rather than having a higher rate for fewer, recipients. The issue is that fuel poverty affects so many more people now and we know that, for many households, energy bills are just too high. Although the only way to reduce bills for the long term is to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and look at other ways to bring bills down, we feel that there is a real need for immediate support this coming winter. The warm home discount reduces the energy costs of low-income households and is therefore directly relevant to making progression towards our statutory duty to address and reduce fuel poverty. Expansion to all households on means-tested benefits will mean that more households on low incomes receive the discount. It will support more households that continue to struggle with affordability at the moment; in fact, if we do not do this, more households are likely to fall into fuel poverty, which we do not want to see.