Energy bills: Millions eligible for £150 Warm Home Discount
This brings the number of households eligible for the warm home discount up to just over 6 million, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has confirmed after a consultation.
The changes remove some restrictions on eligibility and mean every bill payer on means-tested benefits will qualify.
Some 900,000 families with children and 1.8 million homes in fuel poverty are set to benefit from the payment.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: 'I know families are still struggling with the cost of living, and I know the fear that comes with not being able to afford your next bill.
'Providing security and peace of mind for working people is deeply personal to me as Prime Minister and foundational for the Plan for Change.
'I have no doubt that, like rolling out free school meals, breakfast clubs and childcare support, extending this £150 energy bills support to millions more families will make a real difference.'
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: 'Millions of families will get vital support with the cost of living this coming winter, demonstrating this government's commitment to put money in people's pockets through our Plan for Change.'
Recommended reading:
Simon Francis, Coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, commented: 'Expanding the Warm Home Discount is a welcome step that will help more households this winter.
"But the scheme still leaves out some of those most at risk, including people with long-term health conditions, disabilities and those on non-means tested benefits who often face the highest energy costs.
'With bills still hundreds of pounds higher than in 2020, millions will continue to face unaffordable energy and cold, damp homes this winter.
'Alongside the energy efficiency investment announced in the Spending Review, the government must commit to a permanent social tariff and reform energy pricing to ensure every household can benefit from cheap renewable energy.'
The Conservatives criticised the move, saying energy prices are expected to keep climbing overall.
Andrew Bowie, the acting shadow energy secretary, said: 'Labour promised to cut everyone's energy bills by £300 but they have increased by £280 and are forecast to keep going up.
'Energy bills need to come down but this announcement will cut bills for just a quarter of households whilst increasing them for everyone else.
'Kemi Badenoch and I have been clear that net zero by 2050 is impossible without bankrupting Britain and making hard-working families worse off.'
What is the Warm Home Discount Scheme?
The Warm Home Discount Scheme is a one-off discount on your electricity bill worth £150.
The money is not paid directly to you but is taken off of your energy bills between October 2024 and March 2025.
You may be able to get the discount on your gas bill instead of your electricity bill if your supplier provides you with both and you are eligible.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Western Telegraph
20 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Maintenance fund to give £9bn a year to fix schools, hospitals and prisons
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said £6 billion a year would go to repairing hospitals, £3 billion to schools and colleges and £600 million to courts and prisons as part of Labour's plans for 'national renewal'. The maintenance fund is part of the minimum £725 billion committed to boost infrastructure in the 10-year plan, he told the Commons. The Government hopes this preventative action will break the cycle of emergency repairs in public infrastructure. It will go towards making court facilities better in a bid to reduce backlogs, and improving safety and security in prisons across England and Wales. Removing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) will be among the measures taken to update health facilities. The Treasury minister told MPs: 'Done properly it will result in tangible improvements to the fabric of our country, our local roads and high streets renewed so communities are even better places to live. Our public transport more available and more reliable, making it easier for people to get around and access opportunities. 'Our schools and hospitals and GP surgeries fit for the future to deliver for generations to come, and a country that will be stronger and more resilient. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones (James Manning/PA) 'Communities will see the difference as this Labour Government delivers on the promise of change and a decade of national renewal.' The strategy also includes £1 billion to fix roads, bridges and flyovers and £590 million to start work on the Lower Thames Crossing project. Some £16 billion of public investment will go towards building 500,000 new homes through a new publicly owned National Housing Bank. This is expected to unlock more than £53 billion of private investment. The strategy covers a decade but the spending review cycle every two years will provide a juncture to decide whether to go ahead with projects. A 'pipeline' of projects will be published online in mid-July and will be updated every six months. The strategy does not cover so-called megaprojects which cost more than £10 billion and take more than 10 years to deliver – currently the HS2 railway, Sizewell C nuclear plant and the Dreadnought submarine programme. Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: 'Infrastructure is crucial to unlocking growth across the country, but for too long investment has been squeezed. Crumbling public buildings are a sign of the decay that has seeped into our everyday lives because of a total failure to plan and invest. 'We're not just fixing buildings – we're enhancing public services, improving lives and creating the conditions for sustainable economic growth in communities throughout the UK. We're delivering on a decade of national renewal we promised Britain. 'This will deliver the decade of national renewal we promised Britain, and fulfil our Plan for Change goals to kickstart economic growth, and build an NHS fit for the future.'
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Assisted dying Bill MP confident Parliament will vote yes
The Labour MP was joined by bereaved and terminally ill people on the eve of the vote, as they recounted the emotional toll the current law has had on them and their loved ones and pleaded for change. Since introducing her Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in Parliament last year, Ms Leadbeater has argued dying people must be given choice at the end of their lives, but opponents of her Bill have warned it fails to guarantee protections for society's most vulnerable. Making her case for a change in the law, Ms Leadbeater said: 'We have the most robust piece of legislation in the world in front of us tomorrow, and I know that many colleagues have engaged very closely with the legislation and will make their decision based on those facts and that evidence, and that cannot be disputed. 'But we need to do something, and we need to do it quickly.' Friday will be the first time the Bill has been debated and voted on in its entirety since last year's historic yes vote, when MPs supported the principle of assisted dying for England and Wales by a majority of 55. MPs are entitled to have a free vote on the Bill, meaning they decide according to their conscience rather than along party lines. The relatively narrow majority means every vote will count on Friday, to secure the Bill's passage to the House of Lords for further debate and voting. As an example, the Bill would fall if 28 MPs switched directly from voting yes to no, but only if all other MPs voted exactly the same way as they did in November, including those who abstained. Asked how she is feeling ahead of the vote, Ms Leadbeater acknowledged there could be some change in the numbers, but insisted she is still confident the Bill will pass the third reading stage and move through to the Lords. She told reporters on Thursday: 'There might be some small movement in the middle, some people might maybe change their mind one way, others will change their mind the other way but fundamentally I don't anticipate that that majority would be heavily eroded so I do feel confident we can get through tomorrow successfully.' Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has indicated he will continue to back the Bill, as he did last year, saying earlier this week that his 'position is long-standing and well-known' on assisted dying. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, while describing Ms Leadbeater's work on the proposed legislation as 'extremely helpful', confirmed in April that he still intended to vote against it. Ms Leadbeater warned: 'If we don't pass this law tomorrow, it could be another decade before this issue is brought back to Parliament. 'It's 10 years since we last had a vote, 2015, if we leave it now, I worry it could be a heck of a long time and in that time how many more stories (of suffering) will we hear?' Ms Leadbeater was joined for the press briefing by surgeon, barrister and MP Neil Shastri-Hurst and former lord chancellor Lord Charlie Falconer. Also present were terminally ill patients Sophie Blake, a single mother with terminal breast cancer, and Pamela Fisher, a Church of England lay preacher. While supporters of the Bill say it is coming back to the Commons with better safeguards after more than 90 hours of parliamentary time spent on it to date, opponents claim the process has been rushed and that changes to the Bill mean it is now weaker than it was when first introduced. Ms Leadbeater said she felt the need to 'strongly push back' on the accusation of the legislation being rushed. She said: 'This is not being rushed through, this is not a quick thing that's happened overnight, it has gone through hours and hours and hours of scrutiny.' She added she also finds it 'difficult' to accept that the process itself for someone to have their application approved is 'quite lengthy', but said this is necessary because of the 'thorough' safeguards. The proposed legislation would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist. Significant changes since it succeeded in the initial vote in Parliament include the replacement of a High Court safeguard with the expert panels, and a doubling of the implementation period to a maximum of four years for an assisted dying service to be in place should the Bill pass into law. Academic and disability campaigner Miro Griffiths has sent an open letter to MPs asking them not to endorse the 'perilous piece of legislation' even if they support assisted dying in principle. He wrote: 'I would ask you to devote your energy to improving ethical and progressive forms of support: blanket suicide prevention, palliative care, and measures that create a more just and inclusive society for disabled people. This is the better way forward.'
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Why millions more households will receive the £150 Warm Home Discount
The Warm Home Discount scheme has been expanded to provide £150 directly off energy bills for around six million people, including 900,000 families with children and 1.8 million households in fuel poverty. To be eligible, the bill payer must either receive the guarantee credit element of pension credit or be on a low income. An additional two million people will now receive the automatic discount, after the previous requirement for low-income households to have 'high energy costs' to qualify for the payment was removed. The £150 discount is applied automatically to eligible customers' energy bills between October and March. This positive development for households comes as energy regulator Ofgem is set to drop its energy price cap by 7 per cent for July to September. Rule change to bring £150 winter energy discount to millions more – here's who's eligible
