Congratulations on your recent election as leader of the Conservative Party.
At Fuel Bank Foundation, we were pleased to hear you announce that tackling the cost-of-living crisis and rising energy bills will be your main priority during your first week in office.
Since its launch in 2015, Fuel Bank Foundation has provided crisis support to more than 650,000 people who cannot afford to top-up their prepayment energy meter and are at risk of living without heat, light and power in their home.
The people we help, often the most vulnerable in society, are really struggling right now and becoming increasingly concerned about how they are going to cope when prices rise in October and then again in January. Our Fuel Bank Centres are already seeing peak winter demand levels, which is only going to increase as the colder weather arrives and households need to switch on the heating.
In May, the Government announced its Cost-of-Living Support package to help people pay for their increased energy bills. However, this was at a time when the average bill was expected to be £2800 from 1 October. At the end of August, Ofgem announced that it will be £3549.