Then and now

No-one can accuse the current government of rushing into publishing a new strategy on fuel poverty. There has been an extensive review of the issue by Professor Sir John Hills published in March 2012, followed more than a year later by DECC’s new ‘framework for future action’ redefining the problem, and then earlier this month the new strategy was issued for consultation. It is clear that ministers and officials wanted to mark a decisive break with the previous strategy – where the ambition to end fuel poverty was poorly matched by execution. But it has also sought to learn from over a decade of implementation. In our report, Doing Them Justice, we summarise eleven lessons for effective implementation from our case studies. It is very early days, but compared to the 2001 Fuel Poverty Strategy, DECC’s new approach to fuel poverty looks more promising against a number of these lessons. Be clear about the problem and outcomes that matter most Following the comprehensive Hills Review, DECC is clear that fuel poverty is an ‘additional problem faced by some low income households in having the highest energy costs’. This is likely to provide a more stable measure than the previous definition of needing to spend more than 10% of your income to heat your home set out in the 2001 strategy. Rather than a binary condition of being (or not being) fuel poor, which produced unhelpful fluctuation around the threshold, the new measure allows the ‘fuel poverty gap’ to be estimated. Alongside the commitment in the new strategy to channelling the greatest support to those most deeply in fuel poverty, using this measure to judge progress will mean there is less incentive to focus on the low-hanging fruit than was the case for implementers of previous fuel poverty policies. Stay close to the implementers The previous strategy became disconnected from what was happening – and what was needed – on the ground, relying on a few ‘big ticket’ schemes like Warm Front. The new document is more humble, stressing the need for ‘contributions from across society, including industry, the third sector and citizens’. But in practice, DECC will still need a framework within which such contributions can be brought to bear, setting out the balance of support and challenge that people can expect. Past experience shows the difficulties of trying to deliver through a regulator – Ofgem – whose interests were not always aligned with the department’s; it also shows that without clear accountability for reducing fuel poverty at a local level the agenda can get swamped by other priorities. Allow for and learn from variation One interviewee told us that ‘every government policy should have “and we’ll learn as we go” as its final clause’. The new fuel poverty strategy adopts a similar tone. For instance, the Local Authority Fuel Poverty Competition in 2012/13 has been a useful exercise to seed innovative approaches, and there is a clear intention to learn from local practice in ways that could shape future national policy. However, the 2001 strategy also included such aspirations, as with pilots for area-based Warm Zones – and it is concerning that 13 years of implementing the previous strategy did not give a stronger evidence base of ‘what works’ in this area. Be prepared to rethink if the context changes Given the fact that unforeseen rises in energy prices blindsided the implementers of the last strategy after about 2005, it is unsurprising that its successor stresses the need to be a ‘living document’. Although it lacks concrete details, there is a commitment that DECC will review the strategy every three years, so it can be adjusted ‘in light of the latest thinking’. The proposed annual debate in Parliament on fuel poverty may provide discipline for ministers to stay agile in their approach to such a complex issue. There are also plans to strengthen the Fuel Poverty Advisory Group by independently appointing experts in place of the ex officio stakeholder representatives that have peopled it since 2002. Together, these measures should help to keep government’s feet to the flames over the longer term, another crucial lesson from our work.