The Government are being warned by the Chesterfield Citizens Advice Bureau and local MP, Toby Perkins, that changes made to the eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount scheme will put many pensioners and other vulnerable people at risk this winter.

The Warm Home Discount provides vulnerable groups with a £150 discount on their electricity bills each winter – but changes made last winter mean hundreds of thousands of people no longer qualify. Toby worked with CAB earlier this year to oppose the changes and highlight the impact they would have on local people.

Toby said, “Thousands of Chesterfield people who previously qualified for these payments, and who rely on these payments to help them through the winter, suddenly found themselves without support.

The new criteria used by the government is flawed and has resulted in many people who are in properties with the lowest energy rating and on the lowest incomes, no longer receiving the discount. I challenged the Government on this earlier this year, but they dismissed my concerns.

I have written again to Amanda Solloway, who is the Minister for Energy Consumers and Affordability, urging the Government to review this policy before winter when people will be put at risk.”