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uSwitch comments on Budget's fuel proposals

Vulnerable people struggling to pay their gas and electricity bills have been failed by the government, uSwitch commented yesterday.

Proposals unveiled in the Budget regarding the energy sector include upping the winter fuel payment to £250 for over-60s and to £400 for over-80s.

Energy firms were also encouraged by chancellor Alistair Darling to treble the amount they set by for social tariffs protecting low-income customers.

However, the price comparison website pointed out that these reforms do not take into account the 15 per cent price rises introduced by most energy suppliers earlier this year.

Figures cited by uSwitch show that these increases have increased the number of Britons suffering from fuel poverty by 500,000, bringing the total to 4.5 million.

"The measures announced are certainly a step in the right direction, but they still fall short by some considerable distance," said uSwitch director Ann Robinson.

"We already know that patchy, piecemeal attempts to tackle this issue do not work - any measures introduced need to be long-term, sustainable and easy for the fuel poor to access."

A householder can be said to be suffering from fuel poverty when gas and electricity bills exceed ten per cent of income.

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