Warm Home Discount: Our response to the government consultation
6 November 2025
In our response to the government’s consultation on the Warm Home Discount (WHD) scheme, we strongly support the long-term continuation of the scheme. We also advocate for swift new legislation to protect existing supply chains, and expanded Industry Initiatives to ensure fair support for those most in need.
Jenny Boyce, AgilityEco’s Director of Community Schemes, explains the reasoning behind our response.
Industry Initiatives
We strongly agree with the government’s proposed continuation of the Industry Initiatives element of the WHD scheme, while emphasising the importance of increasing the budget to provide lasting relief. The multi-year commitment from the government provides long-term certainty that enables energy suppliers, delivery partners, supply chains and community groups to invest, plan, and maximise the funding.
We also endorse expanding the Industry Initiatives scheme so it can reach all those in need and provide individual case support, ensuring at-risk groups don’t miss out, particularly those with non-standard circumstances.
Energy supplier-designed schemes
We agree that energy suppliers, in partnership with organisations such as our Local Energy Partnership Advice (LEAP) service, are best placed to tailor and deliver services. This approach can meet the needs of specific customers, groups and communities, while delivering the most effective outcomes and value for money.
Improving delivery
In our response, we propose steps to improve scheme delivery:
- Expand the scope of light-touch, low-cost interventions allowed – many measures currently excluded would lower costs and improve comfort for families.
- Offer simple, quicker integration with retrofit schemes, introducing an auto-eligibility route that allows certain customers to qualify automatically.
- Enable more in-home interventions and a tailored approach, so customers receive the most effective advice and most relevant referrals to onward services.
Benefits of a long-term budget
We welcome the certainty of a robust Industry Initiatives budget to allow long-term strategic partnerships with established organisations and bring investment to the industry. To support this, we urge policymakers to increase the Industry Initiatives budget to mitigate the planning risk suppliers face with an estimate-based approach.
