Scottish core group criteria aligned with Winter heating payment benefits

The core group eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount in Scotland are aligned with the qualifying benefits used for the Scottish Winter heating payment as of December 2025, according to Ofgem's eligibility guidance for the scheme¹. The Warm Home Discount is a £150 rebate on electricity bills, or gas bills on request, and runs in England, Scotland and Wales¹.

The scheme's current period ends on 31 March 2026, and new regulations are required to continue it². The government has decided to continue the Warm Home Discount for a new five-year scheme period from 2026/27 to 2030/31². In Scotland, the core group will be retained but expanded to increase the number of rebates provided under automatic data matching, with eligibility aligned to the same qualifying benefits as the Scottish Winter Heating Payment as of December 2025².

The qualifying benefits differ by nation. Ofgem lists the following for the core group in Scotland and in England and Wales¹:

The qualifying benefits for England and Wales are confirmed in the eligibility statement issued by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for any given scheme year, while the qualifying benefits for Scotland are set out in regulations and determined by Scottish Government ministers within the spending limit¹. The government response states that in England and Wales the current Core Group 1 and Core Group 2 will be merged into a single Core Group, retaining the expanded eligibility criteria from 2025/26².

In Scotland, the Broader Group provides an annual direct rebate of £150 to a household's electricity account, or gas account on request, and is application based, with eligibility criteria set by individual energy suppliers and approved by Ofgem¹. Mandatory criteria for suppliers' Broader Group eligibility include receipt of Pension Age Disability Payment, Adult Disability Payment, Universal Credit, Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance or Housing Benefit¹. The government response says the Broader Group will be targeted at households in receipt of the Pension Age Disability Payment, the Adult Disability Payment and other households in receipt of means-tested benefits².

The government response reports that this winter, 2025/26, around 6 million households are estimated to receive the rebate across Great Britain, an increase of around 2.7 million on the previous year, following the removal of the high-cost-to-heat threshold for recipients of qualifying benefits in England and Wales². Since its inception in 2011, the Warm Home Discount has provided £4.53bn of support through energy bill rebates and Industry Initiatives, and in winter 2023/24 alone 3.35 million households were supported through a £150 rebate².

Why it matters for households

Households in Scotland receiving Pension Credit, Universal Credit, Income Support, Income Based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Related Employment Support Allowance or Support for Mortgage Interest fall within the core group criteria as of December 2025¹. The government response states that the vast majority of qualifying households, around 96%, will continue to receive their rebate automatically through data matching against Department for Work and Pensions records². In most cases suppliers must provide core group and Broader Group discounts by 31 March of each scheme year¹. Customers on direct debit are credited £150 to their electricity account, or to their gas account if requested, while prepayment customers are credited against future energy use¹. Some customers, including prepayment meter customers or core group customers who have since switched supplier, may receive the discount by voucher or cheque¹.

What happens next

The current scheme period ends on 31 March 2026². The government will lay regulations for the next scheme period to ensure they are in force ahead of winter 2026/27². Ofgem states the scheme will reopen in Autumn 2026, when rebate payments for the relevant scheme year will start to be issued¹. The government response says the reforms will take effect from the date the new regulations come into force².