Social Energy Tariff

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Monday 16th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

The consultation has just ended, and we expect to make an announcement in due course. The question is about a social tariff, but if you look at organisations such as National Energy Action, you will see that there is no one definition of a social tariff. We are doing everything we can in the circumstances to extend the warm home discount to as many families as possible.

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

My Lords, speaking as honorary president of National Energy Action, I ask the Minister: would it not be better to increase the warm home discount for those households already eligible—it has not been increased for about the last three to five years—rather than extending the same amount, a very small amount, to a larger number of households? Increasingly, those living in fuel poverty really need more than the £300 available.

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

I welcome that question; we have to balance increasing it for a certain number of people with widening it out to as many people in fuel poverty as possible. The Government are doing the right thing by extending it from about 2.7 million to 6 million people in fuel poverty—to people who would have received no payment whatever.