Energy Systems Catapult’s reacts to today’s Budget, and the lack of targeted energy support for health-vulnerable households and the removal of gas standing charges.
Dr Rose Chard, Senior Advisor for Fair Futures at Energy Systems Catapult, said:
“It’s disappointing that today’s Budget fails to set out how it will target help at people whose health is most at risk from a cold home – those with heart or lung conditions who could end up in hospital this winter if their house is cold.
“The NHS spends an estimated £900 million a year treating illnesses caused by cold and damp homes – and central government already holds the data to find the people who need help most. There’s no good reason the government couldn’t have used it to help vulnerable people this winter whose health means they can’t cut back on gas heating. Costly, blanket rebates every winter can’t become the long-term answer – government should use the data it already has to reach the people it wants to help directly, rather than relying on broad proxies like council tax bands, and brings down their energy costs for good.
“Our Warm Home Prescription has already used NHS data to reach more than 2,500 people with serious respiratory health conditions, and we’ve set out plans to help 5,000 more from January. Government has a ready-made route to cutting bills for the most vulnerable and easing pressure on the NHS at scale – at a fraction of the cost of untargeted support that risks missing those who need it most.
“Keeping people warm, well and out of hospital shouldn’t wait for next winter.”
See ‘Notes for Editors’ below for detail on how Warm Home Prescription works and evidence for its success.
On the decision to remove gas standing charges
Tom Luff, Head of Policy and Business Model Innovation at Energy Systems Catapult, said:
“Removing gas standing charges will help millions of households struggling with their energy bills. But moving those costs onto unit rates means the people who use the most gas do ultimately pay more – including those low-income households whose medical needs force them to use more energy. We shouldn’t fix one distortion by creating hardship elsewhere.
“The bigger prize is fixing the imbalance between electricity and gas prices. That means moving policy costs off electricity bills and pricing carbon more consistently, using the revenue to protect vulnerable households. And support should be targeted using health data – our Warm Home Prescription shows it works, with 84% of people able to heat their homes to a healthy temperature after support. That’s how we make clean energy cheaper without leaving anyone behind.”
Nesta estimates 14% of poorer households could be worse off if gas standing charges were moved onto unit rates. Energy Systems Catapult is one of more than 120 organisations urging the Chancellor to move policy levies from electricity bills into general taxation, which the coalition estimates could save households around £100 a year and cut business electricity costs by up to 20%.
About Warm Home Prescription
Energy Systems Catapult’s Warm Home Prescription uses health data and trusted NHS and community referrals to find people whose health is most at risk from a cold home. They get up to £245 paid straight onto their energy account, plus tailored advice and help to make their homes cheaper to heat. Nobody needs to apply or claim a voucher.
In the latest round, funded by SGN, more than 2,000 people across England and Scotland were helped in 12 months, through 18 health and community organisations. After support:
Read the full report: What happens when people can afford to heat their homes? Lessons from 2,000 households at risk from cold homes and poor health
Sources:
Adam Duckett
Communications Officer
Energy Systems Catapult
Email: Adam.Duckett@es.catapult.org.uk
Energy Systems Catapult is an independent research and technology organisation with a mission to accelerate clean energy innovation. It helps innovative companies, small and large, test, trial and scale new products and services so they can win customers, attract investment, create jobs and thrive in the future energy system.
The Catapult’s team of more than 200 people brings technical, engineering, consumer, commercial, incubation, digital and policy expertise, backed by test facilities, modelling tools and data from more than 500 research projects. That whole energy system view helps innovators understand how their idea will work in practice, where the market opportunity lies and how to capture the benefits of clean growth.
Launched by Innovate UK in 2015 and based in Birmingham, Energy Systems Catapult is part of the Catapult Network of nine technology and innovation centres. The network connects industry, government, research organisations and academia to turn great ideas into successful businesses – and scale them up.
Independent and technology-agnostic markets, policy and regulatory thought leadership tackling the hardest challenges on the way to clean energy innovation.
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