Blog: The Energy Independence Bill must work for fuel poor households, not just for the grid

The Energy Independence Bill is being sold as a plan to fix Britain’s energy system. National Energy Action’s question is narrower and more important: will it support England and the devolved nations to materially reduce fuel poverty? 

This is the test we will hold this Bill to as it makes its way through Parliament. For National Energy Action, success will mean more of the most vulnerable households lifted out of fuel poverty; warmer and healthier homes; better targeting of support for vulnerable households; and stronger consumer protections throughout the retrofit journey. 

The government frames the Bill around energy security and clean power. But that approach can crowd out affordability if no one pushes back. National Energy Action exists to make sure that doesn’t happen. As secretariat to APPG on Warm Homes, National Energy Action will help shape parliamentary scrutiny of the Bill, using our expertise and evidence from fuel poor households to ensure legislators focus on whether the Bill delivers real reductions in fuel poverty.  

We’ve spent decades watching energy legislation get judged by its technical outputs instead of its human outcomes. Cold homes risk becoming a footnote. This Bill gives Parliament a chance to do better. A new Warm Homes Agency, new laws to support reformed efficiency standards, and new data-sharing powers. Whether it delivers depends on the detail, and whether the focus is really on how legislation will ultimately impact people’s lives. 

Three parts of the Bill will decide whether it succeeds or fails on our terms. 

The Warm Homes Agency 

Previous schemes have often been difficult for vulnerable households to navigate, with support fragmented across multiple organisations and programmes. That complexity is not theoretical. Nearly seven in 10 people supported through National Energy Action’s Warm Homes, Healthy Futures programme said they had struggled to find help elsewhere before reaching us, with many describing being passed between organisations or unable to find support that met their needs. 

The Agency must simplify access to support rather than add another layer of complexity. National Energy Action’s test is simple: the Agency must be set up to support all four nations in delivering their fuel poverty strategies, particularly the ambition to take 1 million households out of fuel poverty in England by 2030. 

Private rented sector standards 

Privately rented homes contain some of the coldest, leakiest housing in the country, and renters have the least power to fix that themselves. While this Bill may come too soon to set a new standard for England and Wales, it will need to strengthen the ability of local authorities to enforce current, and future, rules. Minimum standards for privately rented homes (PRS MEES) is the biggest line item in the Warm Homes Plan, and the biggest driver for reducing fuel poverty. The Bill must support it being a success. 

Data sharing 

The Fuel Poverty Strategy for England has set out that those fuel poor households who are most vulnerable to the health impacts of living in a cold home should be prioritised for support. Yet there are limited ways of identifying these people. Our evidence consistently shows that fuel poverty and poor health are deeply interconnected. Before receiving support through Warm Homes, Healthy Futures, more than 80% of clients struggled to keep their homes warm, while many reported that cold homes worsened respiratory conditions, joint pain, anxiety and depression. 

Too often these households are only identified after they reach crisis point. Better use of health data could help change that. Sharing health data to identify at-risk households is one of the most powerful tools this Bill could hand to government. Used well, it could strengthen how we get support to the people who need it most, without them having to prove their own hardship over and over again. Used badly, it risks becoming a data-protection headache that never converts into a warm home. National Energy Action will be pushing for the Bill to guarantee the former, not the latter, wherever it applies. 

This is the first blog in a series on the Energy Independence Bill. Over the coming weeks we’ll go deeper on each of these three areas. We’ll be exploring just what these areas need to achieve to ensure that the Bill is a success for fuel poor households. 

There is a risk that the Energy Independence Bill will be judged on bill savings and carbon numbers alone. National Energy Action will keep asking the question that matters most: will it support England and the devolved nations to materially reduce fuel poverty?