1. Government
a. Central Government b. National Health Service c. Local authorities
d. Technical groups 2. Private corporations
e. Energy Suppliers f. Manufacturers
g. Others in the supply chain h. Financial Institutions i. Private landlords 3. Charity and action groups
j. Charities
k. Consumer groups 4. Community support 5. The media
It is inevitable that other stakeholders also exist, and these would be uncovered as part of more thorough review, in particular as a result of consulting end users, which has been outside the scope of this review.
5.1.1 Central Government
Central Government in the UK forms a significant stakeholder role in the approach towards reducing fuel poverty. The main piece of legislation, the
Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000, covers a strategy for reducing fuel poverty and requires setting of targets for the implementation of that strategy. Under this Act, the Government has a target of removing all vulnerable households from poverty by 2010 and all households in England by 2016.
The Energy White Paper, published on 23 May 2007, sets out the Government’s international and domestic energy strategy to respond to
changing circumstances, address the long term energy challenges and deliver four energy policy goals:
• to put the UK on a path to cutting CO2 emissions by some 60% by about 2050, with real progress by 2020;
• to maintain the reliability of energy supplies;
• to promote competitive markets in the UK and beyond;
• to ensure that every home is adequately and affordably heated.
Changes to Government structure over the past decade has meant that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (formerly Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, and previously Department for Trade and Industry), DEFRA (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs) and currently the Department for Energy and Climate Change all have had responsibility for tackling fuel poverty. Because of the complexity of fuel poverty, the Department of Health and the Department for Work and Pensions are also stakeholders, as well as regulators Ofgem (Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets). Ofgem support the Government in ensuring the competitive energy market works for all customers and in particular for low income and vulnerable households.
The Government is responsible for policy and strategy setting and published the UK Fuel Policy Strategy in November 2001 (BERR, 2001) and produces an annual report on progress towards this strategy (DEFRA, 2008a). Ofgem launched a Social Action Strategy in October 2005 which set out to how they
would meet its social obligations and help the Government tackle fuel poverty.
This included four key areas of work:
• Securing compliance with regulatory obligations and effective monitoring and reporting by the companies;
• Encouraging best practice among energy suppliers using research to identify effective ways to address fuel poverty and help vulnerable customers;
• Influencing the debate about measures to help tackle fuel poverty, working with other stakeholders, helping to promote a joined up and holistic approach;
• Informing consumers about ways to lower their energy bills.
The Government has directly funded a number of programmes to assist people in fuel poverty:
Warm Front which provides a package of insulation and heating
improvements up to the value of £3,500 (or £6,000 where oil, low carbon or renewable technologies are recommended) to help make homes warmer, healthier and more energy efficient. Householders who own their own home or rent from a private landlord may be eligible for grants under this scheme (Warm Front, n.d.). However, a report by the Public Accounts Committee (2009) has shown that nearly 75% of households entitled to a grant are unlikely to be in fuel poverty, whilst the scheme is only available to 35% of all those households likely to be in fuel poverty, partly because the eligibility criteria include receipt of non-means tested benefits. In addition, the scheme does not prioritise those with the most energy inefficient accommodation. The report does comment that many customers are satisfied with the
improvements once complete. Other concerns regarding the scheme are that many applicants are having to fund a lot of the work themselves and the scheme is due to be cut in April 2010. Watchdog Consumer Focus’ energy expert, Jonathan Stearn (Home Advisory Service, 2009) commented “when it works, Warm Front can make a big difference to those who receive its help, but it is still failing many who need its help the most”.
Warm Zones, set up in 2000, trials were conducted in five ‘pathfinder’ zones in the UK (Hull Newham, Northumberland, Sandwell and Stockton). Warm Zones aims to identify all households that need help in a given area and give them all available help in a cost effective way. It does not focus just on fuel poverty, but looks to help anyone who can benefit from energy efficiency measures (Warm Zones, n.d.).
Home Energy Saving Programme, which provides assistance to householders to make their homes more energy efficient and, for households most
vulnerable to fuel poverty, gives help with their bills during the winter through fuel payments and lower energy company tariffs (DEFRA, 2008b).
Winter Fuel Payments, an annual payment to help people aged 60 years and over with the costs of keeping warm during winter. A payment of at least
£250 (depending on circumstances) is made to people aged 60 and over;
people over 80 years are entitled to additional payments (Directgov, n.d.a).
Cold Weather Payments, made during each week of very cold weather (specific criteria apply), to householders already on Pension or Income Support (Directgov, n.d.b).
Fuel Direct is a last resort payment method for particular consumers who experience major difficulties in budgeting. Access to Fuel Direct requires that a domestic consumer should be in debt for gas or electricity and that they should be in receipt of Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or Pension Credit. In order for a Fuel Direct arrangement to be set up it is necessary to secure the agreement of both the Department for Work and Pensions and the energy supplier. The operation of Fuel Direct involves direct deduction from benefit for both current consumption and for debt recovery.
Fuel Direct is now known as the Department for Work and Pensions’ Third Party Deduction system (Third Party Payments Creditor Handbook, 2006).
Low Carbon Buildings Programme is open to householders to provide grants of up to £2,000 towards the costs of energy efficiency measures for their home (Low Carbon Buildings Programme, n.d.).
A number of public awareness campaigns have been run by the Government, for example:
Keep Warm Keep Well – a national campaign to reduce cold-related illness and deaths during winter. Information and advice is provided about how to stay well in winter by keeping warm and what financial support is available (Keep Warm Keep Well, n.d.)
Warm Homes – a national, annual campaign organised by NEA (National Energy Action) in association with Powergen and supported by the
Government, to raise awareness of the households in the UK who cannot afford to heat their homes in the winter and the action that can be taken to end their suffering (National Energy Action, n.d.).
Save Money Save Energy – a campaign to raise awareness of the help on offer under the Home Energy Savings Programme.
The Government has also set up performance frameworks, which includes annual reporting of progress with the fuel poverty strategy (DEFRA, 2008a), and national indicators, e.g. NI 187 (DEFRA, 2009). Jobcentre Plus offers advice to people about a range of benefits, such as Disability Living Allowance and Income Support. The Government also offer interest-free Crisis Loans to help with an emergency or disaster, particularly where there is a risk to the family’s health or safety (Directgov, n.d.c).