The Rt. Hon Rishi Sunak MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AB
Cc: Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Claire Coutinho MP
Minister for Disabled People, Mims Davies MP
Sent via email.
29th February 2024
Dear Prime Minister,
We are writing to you as a cross-party group of MPs and peers to urge you to honour
your commitment to carry out a consultation on a social tariff.
We know that life costs more if you are disabled. And far from getting better, it is
getting worse. On average disabled households use more energy as a result of their
condition or impairment, and as such have seen their energy bills soar. Recent
research from disability charity Scope and WPI Economics has found that disabled
households spend on average £12 per week more on absolute essentials compared
to non-disabled households. And over the past 3 years the average cost of essential
goods purchased by disabled households has increased by 31%. This cost is on
spending that no household can do without, such as food and energy.
Scope has heard directly from disabled people on the impact these extra costs are
having. Disabled people are having to decide to not use heating when cold, to limit
the use of specialist equipment or to cut back on essentials such as food. It is clear
that disabled people need extra support during this cost-of-living crisis, not broken
promises by the Government.
Prime Minister, words matter – commitments made by you and your Ministers
matter. It is therefore extremely disappointing that your Government has gone back
on its word to run a consultation on reforming the energy market. A commitment
made by senior members of your government, on numerous occasions. These
include the 2022 Autumn Statement, when the Chancellor committed to working with
consumer groups and industry to consider the best approach to consumer protection
including options such as a social tariff. In January of last year, you yourself told the
House of Commons that the Government was consulting on ‘the best thing to do
going forward such as a social tariff’. This was a commitment reiterated by the then
Secretary of State for Energy, Grant Shapps MP.
An energy social tariff would help mitigate the burden of these extra costs. Scope’s
own energy support service has seen an increase of 34% to the amount of energy
debt disabled people are experiencing in January 2024 compared to January 2023.
Many organisations across the charity sector have also repeatedly called for one,
with an open letter from Scope and Age UK to the Chancellor being backed by
nearly 100 charities. Scope research has found that 86% of disabled people are in
support of a social tariff. One disabled man recently told Scope:
I want a social tariff for energy. […] What that would mean to my quality of life would be incredible. I’d be able to […] buy a wheelchair, I’d be able to pay for my medicine, […] and I’d be able to eat without going to a food bank. It would change my life.’ – Charlie, 50s
We’ve had the last cost of living payment for those on low incomes, and the last disability payment was in June 2023. It would be disastrous for many disabled
people if you allowed the cost-of-living crisis to continue as is. Further intervention, in the form of discounted energy bills, is the most effective way to lift disabled people out of the fuel poverty trap.
We strongly urge the government to carry out the consultation on an energy social
tariff it had previously promised.
We look forward to your prompt response.
Yours sincerely,
Caroline Lucas MP
Marion Fellows MP
Charlotte Nichols MP
Anne McLaughlin MP
Baroness Campbell
Ben Lake MP
Dan Carden MP
Derek Twigg MP
Hywel Williams MP
Kenny MacAskill MP
Baroness Lister
Nadia Whittome MP
Mohammad Yasin MP
Deidre Brock MP
Ian Byrne MP
Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP
Marsha de Cordova MP
Virendra Sharma MP
Wera Hobhouse MP
Sammy Wilson MP
Debbie Abrahams MP
Kim Johnson MP
Wendy Chamberlain MP
Daisy Cooper MP
Liz Saville-Roberts MP
Sir George Howarth MP
Jamie Stone MP