Winter fuel payments a ‘missed opportunity’
Attempts to keep elderly people warm during the winter need to be rethought because they are not targeting the most needy, a report from the Audit Commission has warned.
The watchdog said the winter fuel payments scheme, which costs £2.7 billion a year to run, was a “missed opportunity”.
Its report, Lofty Ambitions, said because three-quarters of all recipients were not classified as fuel-poor and the payments did not provide incentives to reduce CO2 emissions, they were not helping the government’s environmental agenda.
“A one-off improvement in energy efficiency would cut household bills, giving householders lasting independence,” Audit Commission chairman Michael O’Higgins said.
“Surely this would be much better than pensioners needing continual government support to keep draughty houses warm every winter.”
The report called on councils to take on responsibility for cutting household carbon emissions, pointing to lagging, insulating, re-glazing and modernising as opportunities to improve energy efficiency.
“Cutting the power our homes consume by almost a third could come with a hefty £50 billion price tag, but this investment would be matched in only eight years as household fuel bills would tumble,” Mr O’Higgins added.
