Millions of pensioners left in cold by Warm Front Scheme
Thousands of pensioners are missing out on a £1.8 billion Government scheme to help people struggling to pay their fuel bills, according to the influential Public Accounts Committee.
However a report by the PAC found only a third of the 3 million people judged as being in "fuel poverty" or spending more than ten per cent of their income on fuel bills are benefitting from the payments.
This is because the criteria for claiming the money is based on non means-tested benefits that do not necessarily reflect the fuel poor, such as pensioners in rural areas.
Instead the grants are going to households that can afford to pay the extra money required to carry out energy efficiency measures as construction costs rise.
The scheme is also failing to tackle climate change as a fifth of households receiving payments are already energy efficient.
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