Academics from the University of Oxford have urged the government to once again roll out support for homes struggling with higher-than-normal energy bills this winter.
Given the estimated cost of support between October and July was lower than previously anticipated, academics alongside Cambridge Architectural Research advisors argued the government had access to the funds to provide help once again this winter.
“Millions of households are facing the next winter with no financial support from the government for their fuel bills,” the group said.
“The timetable is already extremely tight – decisions cannot wait.”
According to the research, “the money is available to support vulnerable and fuel poor households,” given the government budgeted £8 billion more than was needed last winter.
The energy price guarantee – which saw household bills subsidised by the government to an average of £2,500 on an annual basis – was revealed to have cost around £4 billion in Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s spring budget, far below the £12 billion anticipated earlier.
Researchers called on ministers to extend support into this winter, given reports have already found that lower-income households could be worse off, despite a lower price cap.
By examining some 28,000 homes with pre-payment meters, researchers found people were using less energy currently than in 2019 due to an increase in prices.
Almost two-thirds of the homes had “self-disconnected” by an average of five times a year, meaning the meters had run out of money and cut out.
“Energy suppliers all have a priority services register (PSR) to identify those who must be connected promptly if there is a failure in supply,” the research added.
“However, even households on the PSR are self-disconnecting when they have insufficient money to keep their own supply on, […] completely against the principle of the register.”