The cost-of-living support won’t prevent a bleak Christmas for many

At Citizens Advice, we can see the difference that Government policy can make through our data.

In March 2020, when the Government effectively mandated an end to rough sleeping, we saw a significant drop in the number of people coming to us for homelessness issues.

In October, the Government’s £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme was rolled out, which meant every household would get £66/67 per month to help with energy bills between October 2022 and March 2023.

And sure enough, in October there was a drop in the number of people coming to us because they couldn’t afford to top up their prepayment meter.

This was still way too high — roughly 2 and a half times higher than in October of the previous year. But our hope was that the Energy Bill Support Scheme payments would lead to a downward trend in the numbers of people coming to us because they couldn’t afford to top up.

But, in November, the numbers shot back up again to near record levels.

The same thing happened with the number of people coming to us for help with food bank referrals and charitable support. A promising dip in October was followed by another rise in November.

And this looks to have continued rising in the first weeks of December. Last week we helped more people with food bank referrals and emergency charitable support than in any other week on record.

And the number of people we helped with emergency fuel vouchers — to help top up their prepayment meters — was the highest since we started measuring this in March.

The reality is that the Government’s support has had some impact, but has been outstripped by combined pressures of sky-high bills and freezing weather. Our advisers have described it as like ‘trying to hold back the tide with a bucket’. And with the current cold weather, it’s easy to see how £66 could be eaten up very quickly on a prepayment meter.

On top of energy bills, housing costs are also a concern

Our web data shows that increasing numbers of people are worried about being able to afford rising rents. Page views for our ‘dealing with a rent increase’ webpage has nearly doubled since last November.

The real concern is that rising bills and rent is causing more people to struggle to keep a roof over their heads this winter. Last month, we helped more people with a homelessness issue than in any month since February 2016.

A developing rent crisis could lead to an eviction crisis in 2023.

As people struggle with their bills, we’re worried that more people are getting into debt and the levels of their debt are growing.

The number of people we’ve helped with debt issues is on an upward trend — increasing in every month for the last 5 months.

Our debt data shows that some groups are being pushed into higher levels of debt than others.

Among the people we’ve helped, the average energy debt of disabled people or people with a long-term health condition has increased by over 25% between 2022 and 2019, compared to just under 10% for people without a disability/long-term health condition.

We’re worried about how people are being chased for this debt. Our data shows that energy companies are forcing vulnerable people — including those who are disabled or have young children — onto prepayment meters. This puts them at risk of being cut off from their heat and electricity supply.

This is likely to be breaking the rules set by the energy regulator. Being on a prepayment meter puts you at risk of being cut off from your heat and electricity supply if you can’t afford to top up. If people require continuous access to heat and electricity due to a vulnerability — like if there’s a young child in the household or somebody has medication that needs to be kept in the fridge — then they should not be forced onto a prepayment meter.

But of the people we’ve seen who’ve been moved by their energy company onto a prepayment meter to repay their debts, 40% are single parents and 65% are disabled or have a long-term health condition.

Our data shows that the Government’s support is not enough to get people through this winter.

That’s why we’re calling for:

• Further targeted support to people on prepayment meters, including via the Household Support Fund
• A ban on energy companies forcing people onto prepayment meters this winter
• Raising Cold Weather Payments to more closely match current energy costs
• Raising the Local Housing Allowance by inflation

Find out more

You can explore all these charts and more in our cost of living data dashboard.

Hear more about our insights at our cost of living briefings. Our next event is at 12–1pm today (15th December). If you can’t make it you can join us on the 19th January, 11:30–12:30.