Charity boss says EBSS vouchers don’t work

The head of an energy charity has urged the government not to use vouchers when assisting vulnerable customers with their energy bills this winter.

Matthew Cole, head of Fuel Bank Foundation, has backed Utility Week’s Action on Bills campaign, which is calling for targeted support measures to be introduced next year, with a revised Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) to be brought in this winter.

Cole said it is “absolutely essential” that an EBSS is brought in again this winter while a social tariff is developed to be introduced next year. However, he cautioned about the method of delivery, citing a low redemption rate of vouchers during the current EBSS scheme.

Figures released by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) last month revealed that with little over two months to go before the scheme ends on 30 June, more than £160 million in energy support vouchers remained unclaimed.

Speaking to Utility Week, Cole explained: “It’s really ironic, we’ve made a career out of giving people vouchers for topping up meters but we were really clear when EBSS was on the drawing board, and we are still really clear now, please don’t use vouchers to provide help to people on a PPM.

“It works in a crisis intervention way when one of our partners or Fuel Bank can say ‘here’s a voucher’, then people understand what it is and are expecting it. But vouchers through the post just don’t work.”

Instead Cole suggested one solution could be to look into getting the payments directly to the meter, such as by using them to reduce the standing charge to zero. 

Cole said that his charity was spending “about £500,000 a week” around Christmas last year to keep PPM customers topped up.

“A decent chunk of the money we were spending from charitable funds was just covering, we think, a lot of the EBSS payments which never got to clients in the first place,” he added.

Both DESNZ and Fuel Bank Foundation have launched separate campaigns in an effort to raise awareness of the support available.

Cole believes that any future EBSS should be targeted at those most in need.

Asked who the support should be targeted at, Cole explained that the benefits system could be a starting point, but warned those just outside the welfare bracket should also be considered.

He added: “It’s a hybrid of people who are potentially at greater risk, or we already know they are on a low income, or are in fuel poverty. So it’s quite a nebulous group of people but it’s specifically targeted at those people who we know there is a higher risk of being without energy.

“You can use Universal Credit as a starting point, but there are also people outside of Universal Credit who you probably need to make sure are being included somehow.”

It comes as Ofgem announced on Thursday (25 May) that from 1 July, the energy price cap will be set at an annual level of £2,074 for a typical dual fuel household paying by direct debit – the first time prices have fallen since the energy crisis began.

Although news the cap is decreasing by £1,200 has been welcomed, there is a concern that without action now, the government “risks sleepwalking into delivering blunt and costly universal support packages”.

Simon Oscroft, co-founder of So Energy, said even with the reduction in the price cap level, customers will still be spending almost double what they were paying before prices started to spike.

He added that the issue is compounded by the fact that prices are only decreasing by £426 a year in real terms which equates to around £36 a month, less than the £66 a month offered under the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

You can read more industry reaction to the price cap announcement here.