Fuel Poverty

Motion as voted upon

This Council notes that its own Well-being Assessment of 2017 records that approximately 9,500 households in Powys (17%) are in fuel poverty.

This Council notes research by the Resolution Foundation think-tank which reveals the number of UK households suffering from ‘fuel stress’ – those spending at least 10% of their family budgets on energy bills – is set to treble to 6.3m when the new energy price cap comes in on 1 April 2022.

This Council agrees with the well-respected ‘Money Saving Expert’ Martin Lewis that ‘it is not an exaggeration to say there are people in the country who will be choosing between heating and eating come April.’

This Council notes and welcomes the Welsh Government’s Winter Fuel Support Scheme which provided eligible households with a one-off £200 payment towards paying winter fuel bills.



This Council calls on the UK Government and our local Members of Parliament to end the dither and delay on tackling the cost-of-living crisis facing Powys families and take immediate and substantive action to support households who are struggling with the recent sharp increases in household energy costs and the increases to come in the weeks and months ahead.

This Council resolves to call on the UK Government to take immediate action to support families in Powys by at least: removing VAT on energy bills for at least one year; increasing the Warm Home Discount from £140 to £400 per year and expanding the number of eligible households to 9.3 million; and introducing a year-long increase to corporation tax for North Sea oil and gas producers in order to secure a £1.2 billion windfall from their increased price rise profits to help mitigate household energy bills.