Today’s long-awaited Autumn Statement from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt had promised to set out the government’s plan to keep people warm this winter and those to come. For the Warm This Winter coalition, our verdict on the Chancellor’s fiscal statement was clear: Government is still not providing the support needed to keep people warm in the short term, and end our dependence on expensive energy for good. Failing to invest is costing us dearly - 1 in every 4 pounds spent on energy is currently wasted, and millions of people in fuel poverty puts profound strain on the NHS. There were some small positive steps which show the government understands where it should be focusing its energy, but right now, that isn't being backed up by policy or spending.
Uprating benefits and pensions in line with inflation, and extending support on energy bills via the energy price guarantee to April 2024 is welcome - but this should never have been in question. In spite of promises to look after them, vulnerable groups will miss out on support, and with bills rising to £3000 for the average household, the increase for millions is unaffordable. While 7 million households will still suffer in fuel poverty this winter, the rise in the price cap next year could see this number rise to 8.6 million households.
The End Fuel Poverty Coalition said:
“We are already seeing the horrific impact of living in cold damp homes on children, the elderly, disabled and those with illnesses ranging from cancer to asthma. Even with the additional funding pledged to the NHS and social care system today, we are deeply concerned that it will be overwhelmed by the energy bills crisis and millions will suffer.
The Chancellor could have raised all the money required to save the public from fuel poverty this winter through a more comprehensive Windfall Tax. Instead, he has chosen to protect the profits of oil and gas firms over protecting people's lives.”
The Chancellor rightly recognised energy efficiency as a priority, and the new Energy Efficiency Taskforce and 2030 target to reduce energy consumption by 15% are both welcome. But we cannot afford to wait until 2025 for new insulation funding to kickstart a national programme to upgrade homes and significantly reduce energy waste, cutting bills long term.
Fiona Duggan, Policy and Impact Lead at Ashden, said: “We are pleased the government recognises that retrofitting our homes at scale will enable us to tackle the energy crisis and climate emergency while also boosting business. But this mammoth task needs to start right now, and we need to front load support now, not wait until 2025. We also need to see more detail, how much of this is new money? We must remember people are struggling due to skyrocketing bills and with 7 million households already mired in fuel poverty, the most vulnerable need immediate support.”
On renewables, the government missed a vital opportunity to remove barriers to onshore wind and increase ambition on solar, which would provide cheap clean energy to communities across the UK and has strong public support. The windfall tax on electricity generators needs to be done with great care so as not to deter investment in what is now our cheapest source of energy.
Possible said: “The Chancellor’s windfall tax doesn't go far enough on dirty fossil fuels, while clean energy generators got slapped with the biggest single levy increase in the budget. This is completely backwards. Oil and gas companies continue to reap eye-watering profits while the climate and people across the UK feel the burn. The government should act to increase clean, cheap energy by unblocking onshore wind and implement a bigger windfall tax on oil and gas companies.”
The rise in windfall tax on oil and gas companies is long overdue, but at 35% is still a lower rate of tax than UK’s neighbours. Despite millions more people facing the prospect of not being able to heat their homes, the Chancellor has chosen to continue to give enormous handouts to oil and gas giants making billions in profit.
Beyond being obscenely unfair, the loophole in the windfall tax – which the government has only made bigger today and which lets giants like Shell escape the tax if they invest in new North Sea fields – means the government is doing the exact opposite of what's needed to get us out of this hole for good. New UK gas fields will not lower bills but will only keep us locked into an expensive energy source far longer than necessary.
Tackling the root cause of much of the UK’s pain – our high dependency on gas – must be a priority and Hunt is right that energy efficiency is key. But the money put aside for it is wholly inadequate and must come sooner than 2025. Even more so when you consider the government is planning to effectively give a half a billion pound subsidy for the development of Rosebank, an oil field that will do nothing to lower bills or boost energy security.
It doesn’t have to be this way. The Warm This Winter coalition believes that if we embrace the positive solutions in front of us, we can tackle this energy crisis, and build a better world. That’s why we’re calling for people to join us on Saturday 3rd December for a national day of action, in towns and cities across the UK. Find out more and get involved here.
