What additional support does the Welsh Government intend to offer those from low income households to pay energy bills due to the unprecedented rise in costs?
Since last November, we have invested more than £380 million in a package of support for low income households to meet the immediate pressures on living costs. This included funding for the Winter Fuel Support Scheme which provided a £200 payment for eligible households to help meet the cost of essential bills over the winter period. The funding will also support a further fuel support scheme to be launched in this coming autumn. We are also looking at how the scheme can reach more households so that more people receive the £200 payment which offers such crucial support.
This package of support will also fund a £150 cost-of-living payment for households in Council tax bands A-D and to all households which receive support from the Council Tax Reduction Scheme in all council tax bands. A further £25m will be available to local authorities in the form of a discretionary fund. They will be able to target this additional funding to help households which may be struggling.
Within this funding, £15m has been made available for the Discretionary Assistance Fund (DAF) to the end of March 2023. The funding will help provide additional support for off-grid households in extreme hardship, who are unable to afford their next delivery of oil or liquid gas. This will help those households with up to £250 for a one-off oil payment or up to three payments of £70 for liquid gas.
We are also continuing to invest in our Warm Homes Programme, which has been in operation since 2010. This provides home energy efficiency measures recommended following a whole house assessment, which is designed to best meet the needs of the householder and the home. Our programme has benefitted more than 67,100 households since its launch with funding of between £5,000 and £12,000. Our programme is designed to provide support to lower income households experiencing difficulty maintaining a warm home at an affordable cost. The current programme runs until at least March 2023. On average, these home energy efficiency improvements have saved householders more than £300 on their annual domestic energy bills.