Fuel poverty charity National Energy Action has today warned average domestic energy bills have already soared by over £230 per customer compared to last winter.

Charities warn recent broken manifesto promise means the poorest households, living in least efficient homes are set to miss out on up to £750 a year cut to their energy bills

This year’s UKFPM identifies the opportunities associated with decarbonising heat for fuel poor households; the barriers they face in doing so; the likely risks of the decarbonisation agenda for them; and which policy developments and interventions are required to ensure that the decarbonisation of domestic heating can be fair and affordable.

A new report released today warns of significant hardship for fuel poor households in the coming winter, as a potent combination of higher energy use resulting from staying at home for longer is mixed with reductions in income.

National Energy Action (NEA) and Energy Action Scotland (EAS) are the UK’s national charities aiming to end fuel poverty. For close to two decades, we have published a yearly investigative report on progress to eliminate fuel poverty across the UK and within each of the four UK nations: the UK Fuel Poverty Monitor.

This year’s UK Fuel Poverty Monitor (UKFPM) reviews the events that have resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, and how they have impacted vulnerable energy consumers and the organisations that look to support them, cataloguing the response to this challenge from these organisations. It concludes with an investigation of the policies, strategies and other key actions that are urgently needed to address the impact of the pandemic this winter and beyond.

This year, the focus of the Monitor is on progress in delivering existing fuel poverty strategies in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Health and Innovation Programme was a £26.2 million programme to bring affordable warmth to fuel poor and vulnerable households in England, Scotland and Wales. The programme launched in April 2015 and has delivered energy efficiency advice and measures to over 9000 households.

This research investigated the relationship between fuel poverty and carbon monoxide (CO) risk in households on low incomes and in vulnerable situations.