‘Left out in the cold!’ Thousands could lose Warm Home Discount as energy bills rise | Personal Finance | Finance
Citizens Advice Scotland is warning that there is growing uncertainty over whether the scheme will continue this year and is calling on the UK and Scottish Governments to provide clarity. The Warm Home Discount is a £140 reduction off someone’s energy bills, which are set to rise by around £693 in April. Money from the concession is not paid directly to claimants. Instead, it is taking off their gas and electricity bills at some point in the year.
It is a one-off discount which is taken off energy bills sometime between October and March in the qualifying year.
Some 250,000 properties are eligible to receive the Warm Home Discount as part of their annual payments on their household energy bills for December or March/April.
However, there are apparent issues between Westminster and devolved Governments about how it is delivered. Scotland’s Government claims households in the country up 10.11 percent of Warm House Discount recipients.
However, the devolved Government also suggests that the UK Government has provided only 9.4 percent of funding for a separate Scottish scheme.
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In 2021, the UK-wide Government announced the extension of the Warm Home Discount until 2026.
This promise included a pledge to a new approach to target support for households in England and Wales.
However, there has been no commitment to a similar new approach to those living in Scotland, which has led to uncertainty about how the scheme will be delivered in the country.
With no equivalent new targeting in Scotland, there is uncertainty around the future of the scheme north of the border.
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Frazer Scott, the chief executive of Energy Action Scotland, explained: “Aspects of the Warm Home Discount scheme were devolved in 2016, and going forward there is more that could be done to better target the scheme which better reflects Scotland’s fuel poverty challenges.
“But right now that’s a longer term aspiration – what we need to see quickly is an assurance that vulnerable people aren’t going to miss out on this rebate, and that people delivering life changing work funded through the scheme still have jobs.
“We need to see both the UK and Scottish Governments working together to ensure there is a deliverable scheme in place for the coming financial year.
“People are really going to struggle this year, we need to be doing everything we can to support them, but right now Scottish households are being left out in the cold.”
Kate Morrison, the Fair Markets spokesperson at the financial assistance organisation, added: “With energy bills set to soar in a matter of weeks it’s incredibly worrying that we don’t have clarity over how this scheme will operate in Scotland.
“The Warm Home Discount isn’t a silver bullet for fuel poverty in Scotland – but it’s an absolute lifeline for those who receive, and that will be the case this year more than ever.
“It’s also important to understand the wider indirect support the scheme offers through advice, training and energy efficiency. One way or the other hundreds of thousands of households in Scotland are benefiting from this scheme.”
A Government spokesperson said: “We are committed to supporting vulnerable households with heating their homes, which is why we have announced a £9.1billion support package to help families dealing with rising energy costs.
“Our winter fuel payments are supporting over 11 million pensioners with their energy bills and we are continuing to encourage those eligible for Pension Credit, and the wide range of other benefits available, to make a claim.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “We agree that the UK Government needs to provide much more certainty about the future of the current GB-wide scheme.This is needed because of changes they want to make in England and Wales.
“The current Warm Home Discount was launched by the UK Government in 2011 and is paid for by a charge on household bills. This means that the regulations for this scheme can only be agreed by the UK Parliament.
“Last February we proposed a simpler, fairer Warm Home Discount scheme in Scotland – but the UK Government has not agreed to this. Time has run out to develop a more flexible and better targeted scheme.
“Scottish ministers have urged the UK Government to confirm that the current scheme will continue in Scotland next year and are awaiting their response.”
