Chancellor must avoid dangerous winter support gap for working parents and disabled people, warns Citizens Advice

Citizens Advice says the Chancellor must avoid a dangerous gap in winter energy support that threatens to leave disabled people and working families behind. The charity warns that failing to expand winter energy support beyond the current safety net risks bypassing some of the very people struggling the most.

Typical annual energy bills are predicted to climb above £2,000 in January. Combined with colder weather, this means average households could be paying £60 a month more on their bills between January and March.

For households already in a 'negative budget' - where their income simply cannot keep up with the cost of basic essentials - this means finding an extra £180 over the post-Christmas period, precisely when debt issues usually reach their peak.

The impact of yet another rise in energy bills is expected to hit working families and disabled households particularly hard. By looking at households who are struggling but fall outside the safety net of means-tested benefits, Citizens Advice has revealed a deepening crisis, set to worsen this winter without action:

65% of working parents not on means-tested benefits and seeking debt help from Citizens Advice cannot cover their basic bills. They are trapped in a 'negative budget,' with an average £160 monthly gap between their income and basic essentials.

Disabled workers who receive PIP but not Universal Credit, face the highest energy debt burden of anyone seeking the charity’s support. They owe an average of £2,507 - nearly £300 more than the typical person the charity sees for support.

Action needed at the budget

Citizens Advice wants the Chancellor to use the upcoming budget to commit to an additional crisis support payment on top of the Warm Home Discount this winter, and expand support to people in receipt of Child Benefit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

This, the charity says, will protect households with children and disabled households who desperately need help over the coldest months of the year - but currently fall outside the means-tested benefits criteria.

For long-term support, the charity wants a two-part approach. First, it wants a permanent system that gives struggling households support based on their actual energy needs. To make this work, the government must improve data sharing across departments. This will allow them to automatically find and help the people who need it most. Second, it is calling for fully funded essential home upgrades to permanently lower energy bills, alongside lower levies to reduce electricity prices.

Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:

"Our advisers are seeing disabled workers weighed down by massive energy debts, and parents who are working but still unable to cover the costs of basics for their family. That’s why we’re calling for a vital two-step approach this Budget.

"First, the government must provide immediate, expanded crisis support. Second, it must deliver on its existing commitments to upgrade leaky, cold and inefficient homes by fully funding the Warm Homes Plan.

“The government has promised to protect living standards, but failing to act on both these fronts risks causing immediate, avoidable hardship now and in future winters, for those who can least afford it."

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For more information contact: press.office@citizensadvice.org.uk Tel: 03000 231 080 Out-of-hours contact number: 0845 099 0107 We are the people's champion. We give people the knowledge and confidence they need to find their way forward - whoever they are, and whatever their problem.

Notes to editors:

1. As an example of additional support, Citizens Advice estimates that providing a £100 support payment to individuals receiving the Warm Home Discount, Child Benefit, and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) would have an upper-limit cost of approximately £1.6bn. This is an illustrative conservative estimate, given many households would already qualify through their eligibility for Universal Credit, and the government has data to be able to better understand these overlaps and mitigate doubling costs. £1.6bn in targeted support would cost less than a tenth of the assistance provided during the last crisis over a similar timeframe.

2. Working disabled clients receiving disability benefits but no recorded means-tested benefits spent a higher median share of income on energy: 9.16%, compared with 7.91% for non-working disabled clients receiving PIP and means-tested benefits. Their average energy debt was also higher among recorded debtors: £2,507 versus £2,231.

3. Citizens Advice is the people’s champion - supporting people across England, Wales and the Channel Islands through: the national charity Citizens Advice; the network of independent local Citizens Advice charities; and the Citizens Advice consumer service.

4. Our network of charities offers impartial advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free. Citizens Advice helped 2.71 million people face to face, over the phone, by email and web chat in 2024-25. And we had 44 million visits to our website. For full service statistics see our monthly publication Advice trends.

5. Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 19,500 trained volunteers, working at over 1,900 locations across England, Wales and the Channel Islands.

6. Citizens Advice is the statutory consumer advocate for energy and postal markets. We provide supplier performance information to consumers and policy analysis to decision makers.

7. Citizens Advice consumer service can help with consumer issues like broken or faulty goods, or problems with energy, heat networks or post. You can get advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 or 0808 223 1144 for Welsh language speakers.