Budget: Lower energy bills welcome, but cuts leave the UK without ‘a plan to end fuel poverty’

• National Energy Action welcomes lower energy bills but 6 million children in the UK are in fuel poverty.
• Today’s Budget takes place on National Energy Action’s Fuel Poverty Awareness Day.

On Fuel Poverty Awareness Day, despite moves to end the two-child benefit cap and lower energy bills, fuel poverty charity National Energy Action warns that cutting funding for the only national fuel poverty scheme leaves the UK without a plan to end fuel poverty.

The Chancellor’s Autumn Budget has revealed that the government’s national fuel poverty programme, the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) will end next April, as part of efforts to lower energy bills. This is despite the fact that National Energy Action’s new estimate shows there are 6 million children in the UK living in fuel poverty², many in the UK’s least efficient homes.

National Energy Action Chief Executive Adam Scorer says, ‘Despite the welcome news that the two-child benefit cap is being scrapped and £150 lifted from energy bills, the Budget has blown a huge hole in the government’s strategy to tackle fuel poverty.

‘By scrapping the ECO scheme with no successor and no Warm Homes Plan yet in sight, the Treasury has removed the only national scheme focused on fuel poor homes, outside of the social housing sector. Until the government’s Warm Homes Plan is released, there now isn’t a plan for how to end fuel poverty.

‘It’s clear ECO needed a hard reform. It was the government’s responsibility to do the work needed to make sure it benefited the millions condemned to living in cold and unhealthy homes. It has chosen to do the easy thing instead and scrap it entirely.

‘Everything will now rest on whether the Warm Homes Plan develops into a genuine, national programme to lift low-income households out of fuel poverty. Without large-scale retrofit of our leaky homes, there is simply no route to ending fuel poverty in the long term.

‘Today is National Energy Action’s Fuel Poverty Awareness Day – and we’re highlighting the 6 million children living in fuel poverty across the UK. I thought it falling on the same day as the Budget was coincidence. It now feels fateful.’

Fuel Poverty Awareness Day

Taking place on the same day as the Budget, National Energy Action’s Fuel Poverty Awareness Day is an opportunity to highlight the impacts of fuel poverty on children. It has been shining a light on the plight of these children and how their health, comfort and life chances are put at risk, simply from living in a cold home. The charity has also been campaigning for more support and highlighting the solutions to fuel poverty. Find out more: www.nea.org.uk/who-we-are/nea-campaigns/fpad/.

Polling shows how fuel poverty affects children

Recent National Energy Action polling finds that seven in 10 (68%) parents with children under 16 reported being worried about energy costs this upcoming winter, compared to 61% of people with no children³. One in five (20%) of parents with children under 16 say it is likely they will go into debt to pay for energy bills this winter, compared to 13% of people with no children.

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. National Energy Action (NEA), is the national fuel poverty charity, working across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, to improve the lives of people in fuel poverty. We directly support people with energy and income maximisation advice, and we advocate on issues such as the current energy crisis and the need to improve the energy efficiency of our homes. See: www.nea.org.uk.

1. Table to show calculation of children in fuel poverty

1. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,443 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 25 – 26 September 2025.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

If this goes online, please link to https://www.nea.org.uk/energy-crisis/. We are on Twitter/X: @NEA_UKCharity and Bluesky: @nea.org.uk.