Some of the nation's poorest households risk missing out on a scheme targeted to shield them as the cost of living crisis in the UK worsens, it is feared. Back in February, the UK Government announced that around 20 million households in council tax bands A to D - including 95 per cent of rented properties - would benefit from a council tax rebate of £150.
But a living standard think tank fears that some of the nation's most vulnerable households will fall between the cracks and not benefit from the Government's £3 billion scheme. The Resolution Foundation, an independent think-tank focused on improving the living standards for those on low to middle incomes, has acknowledged that the Government’s Energy Rebate Scheme will go some way towards reducing the impact of the energy price cap rise on low-income households.
But the foundation warns that support doesn’t go far enough in protecting low-income households from rising energy bills, while the scheme’s design is 'deeply flawed'. As a result, the number of households experiencing ‘fuel stress’ – spending at least ten per cent of their total household budgets on energy bills – is still set to double overnight from 2.5 to 5 million households.
