Andy Burnham told to give £360 to households this winter on 4 DWP benefits

The DWP currently pays out a £150 Warm Home Discount to help households on benefits

The Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been urged to raise a DWP benefits payment currently worth £150 to eligible households by more than £200 this winter.

Mr Burnham and his Chancellor, John Healey, are preparing to deliver their first Budget on 28 October , following the departure of former PM Sir Keir Starmer and his beleaguered Chancellor, Rachel Reeves. Ahead of the landmark occasion, businesses, charities and key organisations throughout the UK have been invited to submit their recommendations to the government regarding potential changes to be included in the Budget.

Charity Citizens Advice has called on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to substantially boost the value of the Warm Home Discount. At present, the scheme provides a £150 payment to benefit-claiming households in England and Wales to assist with energy bill costs over the winter period - bills which have already risen by 4% in October and are expected to climb even further come January.

However, the charity contends that the Warm Home Discount has failed to keep pace with inflation, arguing that the payment should be raised from its current level of £150 to an average of £360, structured across several 'tiers' of support.

The charity stated: "We welcome the expansion of the Warm Home Discount (WHD) to all households receiving means tested benefits, providing them with a vital lifeline. However, the value of the discount has been £150 for over a decade, and has not kept pace with inflation or sharply rising energy prices. It currently does not provide adequate support to the households who are struggling the most with their energy bills. Furthermore, changes to the way the scheme is paid for mean those on low incomes, who use the most energy, pay most towards it, significantly reducing the benefit they get from the scheme."

The charity is now pushing for the introduction of 'tiered support', which would offer an average of £360 per household, with some receiving even more assistance, reports the Express.

It went on to say: "Valuations Office Data should be used as a proxy to assess energy needs, to provide tiered support. As this is how the previous WHD operated with the high-cost-to-heat threshold, it should be possible for the Government to implement these changes this winter.

"Our modelling, which was done in partnership with IPPR and Policy in Practice, assumed 5.6 million households on means tested benefits would receive, on average, £360 towards their energy bills. This would see 600,000 households no longer spending over 10% of their income on energy, which would have a significant impact on those who are struggling most.

"With energy continuing to be one of the least affordable bills, implementing this model would help millions of households at the sharp end of the cost of living crisis. By committing to funding the scheme long-term, the Government could help households to get their budgets under control, keep their homes safe and warm, and begin to reduce the debt burden in the energy market by making bills more affordable."

Citizens Advice acknowledges the scheme would require an additional £2 billion annually to implement, but argues the funding ought to come from general taxation instead of being added to energy bills.

Currently, those who qualify for Warm Home Discount include state pensioners receiving Pension Credit, alongside households claiming Universal Credit, Housing Benefit and/or Income-Related Employment and Support Allowance.