Government to consider impact of UK energy efficiency plan on poor households

theguardian.com:

The government is to formally consider the impact of its flagship energy efficiency plan on people most at risk from soaring bills, citing the conflict in Ukraine as a factor.

The move comes after officials admitted they did not carry out an equality assessment of the heat and buildings strategy before it was announced last autumn. It sets out to slash carbon emissions from 30m homes and workplaces and is a key part of the UK’s net zero target.

Last month it was criticised by the independent statutory Climate Change Committee, which said more investment was needed in energy efficiency and low-carbon heat improvements for fuel-poor homes, “especially given that the number of households in fuel poverty is rising dramatically as the wholesale price of gas rises to unprecedented levels”.

Friends of the Earth uncovered the absence of a public sector equality duty assessment during a high court claim alleging the strategy breaches equalities law.

The environmental campaign group believes key policies to help the most vulnerable people to reduce emissions are missing from the strategy launched by the business and energy secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, before the UN Cop26 climate summit in November.

The government’s decision to belatedly check the impact on the most vulnerable comes amid predictions that up to 40% of UK people could be in fuel poverty by October, when energy prices are expected to rise again after a 54% increase for many households this month.

On Tuesday, Boris Johnson said the government could do more to tackle soaring bills, but added: ”The crucial thing is to make sure we deal with the prices over the medium and long term.” Among current responses, he cited payments being administered by councils for citizens in