A verdict has been handed down to thousands of individuals regarding their eligibility to receive the Warm Home Discount from the Department of Work and Pensions. The program provides a single payment of £150 into household electricity accounts from October to March.
However, many were taken aback to discover that they have been excluded from the scheme.
BirminghamLive reports that on the 'Cost of Living UK' Facebook page, people who were expecting to have received their usual discount by the end of March were starting to ask questions.
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Upon discovery of the new regulations, a petition was initiated condemning the "impossible criteria" for the discount and urging the Government to "give back vital support to the most vulnerable, disabled and sick."
Official data demonstrates that the number of individuals receiving the discount, who are on PIP and DLA, has decreased by 290,000, equivalent to 35 percent.
Bradford South Labour MP Judith Cummins tabled a parliamentary question on the issue to see if eligibility for people on PIP and DLA could be reinstated. Ms Cummins asked if the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero could look at extending the Warm Home Discount Scheme to people on disability benefits.
A response, written, was provided by Amanda Solloway, a Conservative Member of Parliament representing Derby North, who currently holds the position of Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy Consumers and Affordability at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Ms. Solloway's statement suggested that the decision was made to exclude individuals receiving disability benefits from the program because they were deemed not to be facing significant enough difficulties with their energy expenses.
She explained: "In reforming the scheme, the Government assessed the merits of including households on non-means tested disability benefits and provided details of this assessment in the consultation and impact assessment.
"Its analysis, based on the English Housing Survey, was that the fuel poverty rates for DLA and PIP recipients in receipt of one of the qualifying means-tested benefits was 41 per cent, compared to 14 per cent for DLA and PIP recipients who are not eligible."
The discount for fuel bills is now only available to people who receive an eligible means-tested benefit. Individuals who only receive Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are excluded because their fuel poverty rate is relatively low - 14 percent.
Fuel poverty is determined by assessing a household's income, energy usage, and fuel costs. If a household has an energy efficiency rating of band D or lower and its occupants are left below the poverty line after heating their homes, it is considered to be in fuel poverty.
The benefits that now qualify for the Warm Home Discount are Pension Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income Support, Universal Credit, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit and - for the first time - Housing Benefit. Specific criteria can be found at the GOV.UK webpage here.
In its shake-up that has caught many by surprise, the Government said in an official consultation document that it was "making fundamental reforms to the scheme so that those low-income households most likely to be living in homes that are expensive to heat will receive the rebate."
It said that to include non-means-tested benefits such as PIP and DLA "would mean that higher-income households would become eligible for rebates and lower-income households would lose out."
According to the definition of fuel poverty, which sets an income threshold of £13,533, the average annual income of individuals receiving PIP and DLA is higher than that, at approximately £14,434.
The Government points out that 62 per cent of people on PIP and DLA are still getting the discount because they also receive one of the benefits that are eligible.
It concluded: "Our latest modelling estimates that there will be reduction in the number of [Warm Home Discount] recipients who receive DLA or PIP by 290,000 or 35 per cent. However, looking wider than the receipt of specific disability benefits, more people with disabilities and health conditions, not fewer, will receive a rebate; our analysis models an increase in the number of recipients who declare they have a long-term illness or disability by 160,000, an increase of 12 per cent compared to the current scheme."
The £150 council tax rebate scheme
The 2022 Council Tax Energy Rebate Schemes both Mandatory and Discretionary have now both closed in line with Government deadlines.
Mandatory awards of £150 may still appear on your Council Tax with a refund in progress.
Find out more here.
You can find the full consultation document on the Warm Home Discount here.
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