Autumn Budget 2025: Don’t make people choose between heating and eating
In the run-up to the Budget, Citizens Advice has three key asks for the Chancellor – vital changes that would help prevent hardship and protect the most vulnerable people in our communities. Every Wednesday in November before the Budget (November 26th) we are sharing one of these asks, and explaining why it matters for the people we support here in Hull & East Riding. This week, we are focusing on energy and the cost of essentials – because no one should have to choose between heating and eating.
Our first budget request is to ensure low-income families can cover essential utility bills this winter.
Across Hull and the East Riding, fuel poverty is becoming a defining feature of financial hardship. Our advisers see first-hand how high energy bills and mounting arrears are leaving households in impossible situations.
- More than half of the clients we help who can’t meet their bills are already repaying energy debt.
- One in five are repaying water debt.
- Households in arrears are twice as likely to face food insecurity and three times as likely to fall behind on rent or council tax.
These are not marginal issues – they are central drivers of the cost-of-living crisis, poor health, and mounting public costs.
Real people behind the statistics
Behind every statistic are real people trying to make ends meet in cold, damp homes.
Last year alone, our advisers supported 1,291 clients with 1,468 damp and mould issues – problems that often begin because people simply cannot afford to heat their homes. The link between cold housing and poor health is undeniable, leading to avoidable illness, distress and higher NHS costs.
We have also seen an unprecedented demand for emergency energy help:
- 1,258 requests for fuel vouchers
- Almost half of those clients also needed food bank referrals
- Over a quarter were added to the Priority Services Register due to vulnerability
These are not isolated crises – they are the new normal for too many families.
Bills rising faster than income
For one family, they came to our Energy Team for support as they were living in a freezing home that they could not afford to heat. Without carpets or furnishings, their home stayed bitterly cold. Despite cutting back to the bare minimum, they relied on food and fuel vouchers to keep their meters running and to feed their families – often without turning the heating on at all. This constant strain took a serious toll on the client’s mental health – they felt stuck in a cycle of hardship they could not escape.
Another client has been to us several times over the recent years. Each winter, their bills rise faster than their income, and debts build across their bills. They have cut down on energy usage as much as possible – but this has led to damp and mould in their home, affecting their health and damaging the property.
This story is typical of a vicious cycle we see all too often: high bills create arrears, arrears create health and housing damage, and this causes ill health and damage which drive up public spending.
Fuel poverty is not inevitable
Every pound invested in helping households afford their energy bills saves much more in avoided emergency grants, healthcare costs and lost productivity.
Public Health England already attributes thousands of excess winter deaths to inadequately heated homes. In our region, many homes are older, poorly insulated and inefficient to heat. Families on low incomes spend a far higher share of their income just to keep warm – and even after cutting usage to the bone, many still cannot afford the basics.
Heating and eating should never be an either/or choice.
Fuel poverty is not inevitable. With the right support, families can stay warm, healthy, and secure. But without action, the cost – to people’s wellbeing and to public finances – will only rise.
This winter, we urge the Chancellor to make sure no one is left in the cold by ensuring there is support to help low-income families cover essential bills.