Ministers Plot Fuel Bill Help for Poor

New proposals from the government seem set to help Britons on low incomes meet their rising energy bills.

In particular, a three-year, £2.75 billion home insulation scheme is to be rolled out nationwide. Using funding from the energy providers themselves, cavity wall and loft insulation will be installed in some of Britain's poorest households under the terms of the project. This should improve energy efficiency, and result in long-term reductions to bills.

Ministers are also currently discussing whether or not they can switch the £2 billion annual winter fuel allowance, currently granted to pensioners only, to cover low income families as well, the Guardian reports.

However, the proposals come at a time when the UK's energy firms are imposing steep price rises to their general plans. Market leader British Gas announced last week that it would be putting up electricity by nine percent and gas by 35 percent due to high wholesale energy costs; other firms are expected to mirror these increases in weeks to come.

In addition, the government appears to be shying away from more radical reforms of the energy market. Calls from consumer groups to impose windfall taxes on providers, and using the proceeds to help poorer households, are understood not to have found favour with chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling.

The average annual energy bill in the UK currently stands at £1,200.