The Budget provides the Executive with an opportunity to improve the lives of people in Northern Ireland by allocating resources to high priority areas in order to improve outcomes for citizens.

NEA NI welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Department for Economy’s Consultation on ‘Heat Networks – Building a market framework’.

Water UK has announced the domestic water bill in England and Wales will rise by as much at 10.8% from 1st April.

Soaring increases mean the cost of heating an average home will have doubled in 18 months and the in fuel poverty will also soar from 4 million to 6.5 million households across the UK

Around 6.6 million UK households are in the grip of fuel poverty, unable to afford to heat their homes to the temperature needed to keep warm and healthy, falling into debt and suffering health issues as a result.

This policy briefing highlights the positive steps that can be taken now by the UK Government and energy regulator Ofgem to respond to the current energy crisis and support vulnerable energy customers this winter. It is hoped that this will prompt policy interventions in advance of Ofgem announcing in February the next revision to the energy price cap.

The report details that there were 5,802 deaths in Northern Ireland in the 2019/20 winter period which is the third highest number of winter deaths in the last 10 years.

Over the last number of weeks, we have experienced a significant rise in the number of households seeking emergency support for fuel poverty. We therefore welcome the launch of DfC’s Emergency Fuel Payment Scheme.

NEA’s response to the BEIS Call for Evidence on the future of the energy market on a green gas levy.