Government energy bills support scheme launched at the beginning of October 2022

The government energy bills support scheme was launched at the beginning of October 2022, according to StepChange's monthly client data report for October 2022¹. The debt charity said it saw a 34% increase in traffic to its webpage on government help with gas and electricity bills between September and October¹.

The number of new clients receiving full debt advice rose slightly, from 14,815 in September to 15,032 in October 2022¹. The share of new clients in arrears on their energy bills fell compared with September, while council tax arrears rose¹.

StepChange reported that one in five clients (21%) continued to cite a cost of living increase as their main reason for debt in October 2022, and that among those, seven in ten (71%) were women¹. Around 57% of clients were in some form of employment in October 2022¹. Clients in receipt of Universal Credit accounted for 33% of new clients, and the proportion of clients with a negative budget was also 33%¹. The proportion of new clients who have a mortgage rose slightly, to 14% of new clients¹.

The report does not give a figure for the number of households that received a payment under the scheme, or the total amount paid out. Those figures have not been reported in the October 2022 client data report¹.

Why it matters for households

The scheme's launch date of early October 2022 is the point from which the support described by StepChange applied¹. The charity's own figures show the effect on demand for information rather than on bills: visits to its page on government help with gas and electricity bills rose by 34% between September and October 2022¹.

For households already behind on bills, the October 2022 data shows a mixed picture. Fewer new StepChange clients were in arrears on dual fuel, electricity and gas than in September, by between three and five percentage points, but more were behind on council tax, which rose by two percentage points to 33%¹. Council tax arrears are a debt owed to a local authority rather than to an energy supplier, and the Warm Home Discount and other bill help schemes sit alongside the energy support rather than replacing it. The charity's clients are a subset of UK households, so the arrears figures describe people who sought debt advice in October 2022, not the population as a whole¹.

What happens next

The report does not set out any further dates for the scheme or for the payments it covers¹. StepChange publishes monthly client data reports, and the October 2022 report is the latest in that series at the time of publication¹.