The UK Government has unveiled its latest official statistics on fuel poverty in England, indicating that 3.17 million households are grappling with this issue, marking a marginal change from figures reported in 2022.
The statistics underscore a worrying trend as the fuel poverty crisis appears to be intensifying, with households facing an average fuel poverty gap that surpasses previous measurements.
These figures follow closely on the heels of the National Energy Action‘s Fuel Poverty Monitor, conducted in collaboration with Energy Action Scotland and Gemserv.
Alarmingly, the monitor predicts that over three million households might still be mired in fuel poverty by the decade’s end, despite a legal mandate stipulating no households in England should be in such conditions by 2030.
Moreover, recent polling by YouGov for National Energy Action reveals stark realities faced by British adults concerning their energy bills.
Three-in-ten respondents reported difficulty in affording their energy bills over the past three months.
The polling also uncovers a concerning behaviour pattern, with half of the respondents admitting to turning their heating off even when experiencing cold temperatures indoors.
Adam Scorer, Chief Executive of National Energy Action, says: “Even with the government’s own fuel poverty measurement, which is 12 months out of date and doesn’t reflect the impact of actual energy prices, we’ve made no progress over the past year and the situation has got so much worse for people already in fuel poverty.
“The ‘fuel poverty gap’ has grown by 66% since 2020 and the government metric that reflects how many low income households live in the least efficient homes has remained unchanged in the same period.
“At this rate, the government will miss its 2030 legal fuel poverty target by a country mile and millions will be stuck unable to afford to keep their homes and their families warm and well.”
