A “fundamental reassessment” of how energy advice is delivered to consumers needs to take place to meet the scale of the net zero challenge, Citizens Advice has suggested.
The charity has warned that the pandemic, followed by the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine, has seen consumers face unprecedented pressure, which has placed added strain on existing independent advice services, many of which also face reduced budgets.
This is further exacerbated as the UK moves towards net zero, with the growth in smart tariffs, products and services expected to significantly increase the demand for independent consumer advice.
In a recently published discussion paper the consumer charity calls on the government to develop a “clear strategic vision” for energy advice, to manage the complexity of the current wide range of funding streams which create a “complex web of funding with overlapping aims”.
Citizens Advice estimates that based on the current trajectory up to £25-£45 million could be spent each year across a range of different organisations on energy advice. Currently, it added, there is no central analysis of how effective this spend is and where its impact could be improved.
The first step in creating the new strategy is to develop a greater understanding of what energy advice services currently exist, then establish what models work best and for whom.
“The greatest value for money will be achieved when opportunities to strengthen existing advice programmes are taken and action is taken in a integrated way, avoiding isolated ad-hoc interventions,” the charity said.
Once there is a better understanding of the current gaps, consumer needs and their preferences there is scope to explore how to use existing funding pots more effectively.
The charity said until there is greater clarity, work on developing new industry funding mechanisms should be paused unless it can be clearly demonstrated that this will not result in duplication.
Both government and Ofgem must explore opportunities to develop, build and maintain a shared advice infrastructure, the priorities of which include better referrals between organisations, standardised data sets and shared advice tools.
It should also include a shared database of existing and historical projects as well as their aims and impact, and all opportunities should be taken to shift to more stable funding which can run over multiple years.
Existing sources of funding for energy advice includes the energy levy, Warm Home Discount industry initiatives, the energy redress fund, funding from networks and also Smart Energy GB.
The charity said the number of different funding pots and difference in the ‘energy advice’ being delivered makes it difficult to calculate how much could be spent per annum on energy advice.
Additionally, there are key challenges which mean existing funding may not be used as effectively as it could be.
This includes a lack of understanding of whether people’s needs are being met, the fact that less experienced organisations or staff may commission energy advice, inflexible or time limited funding and incomplete data.
The paper makes a list of recommendations it believes need to happen in order to deliver a strengthened and integrated service.
This includes pooling existing funds into a single larger pot. Consolidating the funding in this way would offer the best opportunity to ensure the overall delivery of a wider energy advice strategy.
“We recognise that this is not a straightforward option given the different rules and regulations governing the different funding pots,” it added.
Writing in a blog accompanying the paper the charity’s programme manager for energy advice, Rajni Nair, said to meet the increased demand arising from the energy crisis, Citizens Advice needs to change how it supports people.
She said: “Our capacity to see more people and answer more calls, webchats and email needs to grow and we’ll need smoother referrals so people can get the advice they need, when they need it — moving from expert debt to expert complaints handling advice seamlessly.
“This year, we’ll begin new trials to join more parts of our service and deliver a long term vision of service improvement.”
“Like many charities, a lack of long term funding can too often restrain the work we need to put in to keep our service delivering for clients. Funder objectives can too often be uncoordinated, meaning as a sector we don’t always know which needs we’re meeting. To deliver our vision, we need to overhaul current mechanisms,” she added.
Responding to the report, a government spokesperson said: “We fully recognise the government’s responsibility to provide authoritative guidance on energy.
“This is why, as set out in the British Energy Security Strategy, we will launch a comprehensive online energy advice service this summer, which will help consumers improve the energy performance of their homes.
“We will also launch additional support for homeowners through telephone support and local area advice.”