Opposition MPs have urged the government to extend the Warm Home Discount scheme to all fuel poor households for the duration of the coronavirus crisis.
In a letter to business and energy secretary Alok Sharma, Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson Wera Hobhouse also called for ministers to step up progress on improving the energy efficiency of the UK’s housing stock.
The letter was signed by another 27 MPs from the Labour, Lib Dem and Scottish Nationalist parties as well as the Greens’ sole House of Commons representative, Caroline Lucas.
It calls for an extension of the Warm Home Discount scheme, under which suppliers with more than 150,000 customers offer a £140 discount on electricity bills for those on low incomes.
While the letter says many suppliers offer the discount to a broader group of low-income households, only pensioners receiving the Guarantee Credit are automatically eligible.
In the letter, Hobhouse calls for the discount to be extended to all households that fall into the government’s definition of fuel poverty during the coronavirus crisis.
“Offering this support will provide families who are currently struggling in the face of the coronavirus with much needed relief on their energy bills.”
The letter says the government must also “go further” by bringing forward “long overdue plans” for improving the energy efficiency of homes, adding that it has “missed several opportunities” to help reduce the 2.5 million households in fuel poverty.
It calls for the introduction of a new government-led programme, working with councils, to retrofit homes with insulation and new electric heating and generation systems
“The UK’s housing stock is some of the worst in Europe and it is a national scandal that the government is doing little to help lift families out of fuel poverty – this must change.”
The Conservatives promised in its general election manifesto to increase investment in energy efficiency but did not earmark any cash for such improvements in last month’s Budget.