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CAB - Taking energy levies offbills will help poorer households
Government needs to make sure low income households aren't paying for the very help that is supposed to support them to cut their energy bills.
Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said:
“People have been hit with 37% hikes in energy prices over the last 3 years - eight times the rate of wage rises - leaving some households with a stark choice between heating their homes and putting food on the table. Transferring the levies for Warm Homes Discount and ECO transferred from bills onto government spending is a fair way to cut bills and make sure people on low incomes aren't paying for the very help that is there to support them.
"Extending the time it takes to deliver ECO would be unwise as it means people in homes that haemorrhage heat will be paying more for their energy for longer.
“There is a still a desperate need to reform the energy market reform to boost transparency and make sure energy bills are affordable for all.”
Notes to editors
The Citizens Advice service comprises a network of local bureaux, all of which are independent charities, the Citizens Advice consumer service and national charity Citizens Advice. Together we help people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers. For more see the Citizens Advice website.
The advice provided by the Citizens Advice service is free, independent, confidential, and impartial, and available to everyone regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age or nationality.
To find your local bureau in England and Wales, visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk. You can also get advice online at www.adviceguide.org.uk
You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 08454 04 05 06 or 08454 04 05 05 for Welsh language speakers
Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales advised 2.1 million clients on 6.6 million problems from April 2012 to March 2013. For full 2012/2013 service statistics see our quarterly publication Advice trends
Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 22,000 trained volunteers, working at over 3,000 service outlets across England and Wales.
