Government responds to Warm Home Discount consultation with expanded scheme

The government launched its response to the Warm Home Discount: Better targeted support from 2022 consultation in the week before 12 April 2022, according to Fair By Design, an independent organisation that campaigns on the extra costs of being on a low income¹. The response extends and expands the Warm Home Discount scheme, raises the rebate from £140 to £150, and lowers the thresholds at which energy suppliers must take part¹.

Fair By Design, which had campaigned alongside National Energy Action for the extension and expansion of the scheme, said the changes would mean rebates are provided automatically to eligible households rather than requiring an annual application to their supplier¹. The organisation also welcomed the lower supplier thresholds, saying companies with smaller numbers of customers will have to provide the rebate¹.

Martin Coppack, Director at Fair By Design, said:

The organisation also raised concerns. It said the increase in the rebate, from £140 to £150, has not kept pace with the price of bills, which it said have gone up 54%¹. It added that 210,000 people claiming Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment and Attendance Allowance are set to lose the Warm Home Discount, and that most of these people already pay a poverty premium for their energy¹.

Fair By Design said it will continue to call for the government to ensure people claiming DLA, PIP or AA do not end up worse off because of the eligibility changes, and for the rebate to rise in line with the cost of bills¹.

Why it matters for households

The Warm Home Discount is a rebate applied to the electricity bills of eligible low income households. Under the changes reported, the rebate rises to £150 and is provided automatically to those eligible, rather than through an annual application to a supplier¹. Households whose supplier previously fell below the participation threshold may now receive the rebate, because the thresholds have been lowered¹.

The eligibility changes are not cost-free for all claimants. Fair By Design states that 210,000 people claiming Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment and Attendance Allowance are set to lose the discount¹. The organisation says most of these people already pay a poverty premium on their energy, and that removing the discount will worsen that position¹.

The value of the rebate relative to bills is also contested. Fair By Design says the £10 increase, from £140 to £150, has not matched the 54% rise it reports in the price of bills¹. The government's own assessment of the trade-offs is not set out in the material available.

What happens next

Fair By Design says it will continue to campaign for two changes: that people claiming DLA, PIP or AA do not lose money or end up worse off through the eligibility changes, and that the rebate rises to reflect the rising cost of bills¹. No further dates for implementation or review are given in the material available.