Cost of living schemes other than the three main Cost of Living Payments discontinued in FYE 2024

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said that several cost of living support schemes available in the financial year ending (FYE) 2023 were discontinued in FYE 2024. In its bulletin on household income inequality, published on 2 May 2025, the ONS stated that "some schemes, including the Energy Support Scheme, Council Tax rebate schemes (Great Britain) and the Alternative Fuel Payment that were available in FYE 2023 were discontinued in FYE 2024"¹.

The ONS said three payments continued through FYE 2024: the Low-income and tax credits Cost of Living Payment, the Disability Cost of Living Payment, and the Pensioners Cost of Living Payment. It said "all other cost of living related benefits and schemes were discontinued in FYE 2024"¹. The financial year ending 2024 covers April 2023 to March 2024¹.

The bulletin also records the effect of these changes on measured incomes. Mean disposable income fell by 4.0% for the poorest fifth of households and by 2.1% for the richest fifth, which the ONS attributed in part to reduced original income for both groups¹. Original income covers earnings, private pensions, investments and other income before direct taxes and cash benefits¹.

On inequality, the ONS said the Gini coefficient for disposable income decreased to 32.9% in FYE 2024 from 33.1% in FYE 2023, a change it described as statistically non-significant¹. The Gini coefficient for original income rose from 47.2% to 47.6%, also not statistically significant, while the Gini coefficient for gross income, which incorporates cash benefits, fell by 0.4 percentage points to 37.3%¹.

The gross income figure for FYE 2023 is not stated directly in the bulletin; it is given as a 0.4 percentage point decrease to 37.3% in FYE 2024¹. The S80/S20 ratio is given as an increase of 0.1 to 5.6, and the richest 1% share as a decrease of 0.1 percentage points to 6.6%, the lowest recorded between FYE 2002 and FYE 2024¹. The P90/P10 ratio (4.2) and the Palma ratio (1.3) were unchanged between the two years¹.

For retired households, disposable income inequality fell by 1.3 percentage points to 27.9% in FYE 2024, a statistically non-significant decrease, and remained lower than for non-retired households at 33.1%¹. Over the ten years to FYE 2024, disposable income inequality fell by 2.3 percentage points for non-retired households and rose by 0.1 percentage points for retired households¹.

Why it matters for households

The schemes named by the ONS provided lump-sum or bill support in FYE 2023 and were not repeated in FYE 2024. Households that received the Energy Support Scheme, the Council Tax rebate in Great Britain or the Alternative Fuel Payment saw those amounts stop within the April 2023 to March 2024 period¹. The three Cost of Living Payments named by the ONS continued through FYE 2024¹. The Cost of Living Payments guide sets out what was paid and when, and the Warm Home Discount guide covers help with energy bills.

The ONS figures show the poorest fifth of households saw mean disposable income fall by 4.0% over the year, a larger fall than the 2.1% recorded for the richest fifth¹. The bulletin does not separate the effect of the discontinued schemes from other changes in income, and it does not report how many households received each scheme or the amounts paid.

The bulletin also does not report whether any of the discontinued schemes will return, and no replacement for them has been reported. The ONS said the next release date for this bulletin is to be announced¹.

What happens next

The ONS has not announced a date for the next release of this bulletin¹. The bulletin also records that the ONS paused the Statistical Literacy Council (SLC) in February 2024 as part of "broader strategic prioritisation decisions", and that in February 2025 it announced the cessation of the SLC¹.