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Gordon Lishman‚ Director General of Age Concern‚ said:

“Even some of the energy companies have now admitted voluntary social tariffs are a joke. The extra £225 million pledged by energy companies for social assistance schemes‚ which is expected to help 100‚000 households‚ is woefully inadequate. It won’t even cover the 600‚000 households pushed into fuel poverty by hikes at the start of this year‚ let alone those who will be affected by further hikes expected in the summer.

“Almost one in five households are now in fuel poverty‚ over half of whom are likely to be pensioners. We need to see a raft of radical measures introduced urgently‚ including mandatory social tariffs‚ to help the poorest and most vulnerable households.”

ENDS