moneysupermarket.com: Fuel Poverty Report

Commenting on the seventh annual Fuel Poverty Report from the Department of Energy & Climate Change, Scott Byrom, utilities manager at moneysupermarket.com said: "The four actions revealed in today's report are welcome news to UK bill payers, and it is encouraging to see the Government is continuing to place focus on, and take the necessary steps to, tackle fuel poverty in the UK. This is no doubt a step in the right direction, and is key to helping provide relief, not only to the millions of bill payers dreading the impending winter energy bills, but especially for the five million Brits currently living in fuel poverty.

"Helping the poorest to insulate their homes with a ‘Super' Priority Group is good news, which will in turn help reduce energy consumption. A property can save £115 per year by having adequate cavity wall insulation and £150 a year with proper loft insulation, so this group really will benefit customers. Further to this, the review of social tariffs for the most vulnerable is another major step, as is the move to toughen regulations on treating customers fairly to ensure they get the best deal for their money. However, following the recent flux of price reductions to online energy tariffs from a host of leading providers, we have yet to see price falls for those customers on standard tariffs; it would therefore be good to see the Government tackling the issue of wholesale price reductions, ensuring they are passed on to all consumers as quickly as possible.

"The plan to provide whole household energy makeovers for up to 90,000 low-income homes in England, Scotland and Wales will provide much-needed relief to many households living in fuel poverty. But realistically this number is small fry when compared to the five million UK households currently living in fuel poverty, so more action is needed in this area in order to tackle the problem on the larger scale."