Guidance

Information relating to design and delivery of energy assistance schemes

Published 4 November 2026

Factsheet relating to the Energy Independence Bill.

Summary

Under the Digital Economy Act 2017, data can currently only be shared between government and licensed energy suppliers to provide support to eligible bill payers living in fuel poverty. This amendment broadens the legal gateway for data sharing beyond fuel poverty. It enables data to be shared, where appropriate, to support eligible bill payers such as households or businesses facing broad energy related challenges including high energy costs or hard to heat homes because of their circumstances. This amendment also expands the range of licensed energy sector bodies covered by the legislation, supporting the design and effective delivery of energy support in practice.

These changes support the design and delivery of future energy support measures, by enabling information to be shared in relation to persons who are or may be eligible for assistance. This gives the government a wider range of options to choose from when determining how future energy support should be designed and delivered. This can help ensure support is better targeted, improve value for money, and support energy efficiency and low-carbon heating upgrades.

Why are we legislating?

The Digital Economy Act 2017 currently permits data sharing for the purposes of supporting households who meet the definition of fuel poverty. While around 2.7 million households in England were classed as fuel poor in 2024, many more face high energy bills due to inefficient properties, higher energy needs or other circumstances, but fall outside the fuel poverty definition.

This has often left government reliant on universal or application based schemes. Both approaches have benefits and limitations and play an important role in delivering support. However, enabling the government to identify and target bill payers for support, where appropriate, would provide an additional option when determining how future energy support measures should be designed and delivered.

The need for improved targeting through better use of data has been highlighted by several reviews including the Public Accounts Committee in its 2025 report into Energy Bills Support^{[footnote 1]}, the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee 2025 report into tackling the energy cost crises^{[footnote 2]}, the 2025 National Audit Office report on using data and analytics to tackle fraud and error^{[footnote 3]}, and included in the 2021 fuel poverty strategy review^{[footnote 4]}.

What are the government’s objectives with this measure?

This measure supports the government’s objective to put consumers and communities first by broadening the cohort of bill payers who can be considered for future energy support. This amendment enables the creation of future energy schemes that can reach eligible bill payers facing energy related challenges but are currently ineligible for support due to falling outside the definition of fuel poverty. This measure enables effective design and delivery of support, helping to reduce energy bills, improve value for money, and support delivery of energy efficiency and clean heat incentives, leading to reduced emissions.

The measure also provides the government with a wider range of options when designing and delivering support during a future energy crisis. This would help ensure that the approach taken reflects the nature of the crisis and the support Bill payers require.

How will this measure deliver the objectives?

Amending sections 36 and 37 of the Digital Economy Act 2017 enables data sharing beyond those living in fuel poverty to support a wider range of eligible bill payers. This will facilitate future energy support measures to lawfully use data to identify and verify eligibility beyond that definition, while maintaining existing safeguards.

The amendments also expand the legislation to share data with other licenced energy sector bodies, such as distribution network operators, alongside energy suppliers. This enables interchange of data with the bodies involved in the technical, physical or communications aspects of designing and delivering energy support, helping schemes to operate effectively in practice. They also create potential for data to be shared with other bodies involved in designing or delivering energy support measures in the future.

These amendments do not impact or change individuals’ privacy or data protection rights; no changes are being made to the existing safeguards under the Digital Economy Act 2017, the UK GDPR or the Data Protection Act 2018. All data sharing must still meet strict requirements on purpose limitation, data minimisation and transparency, and carries criminal penalties for misuse. Any future schemes using these powers must operate transparently and provide clear privacy information in line with existing data protection laws.

1. Committee of Public Accounts (2025) ‘Energy Bills Support’ ↩

2. Energy Security and Net Zero Committee (2025) ‘Tackling the energy cost crises’ ↩

3. National Audit Office(2025) ‘Using data and analytics to tackle fraud and error’ ↩

4. DESNZ (2025) ‘Review of the Fuel Poverty Strategy, 2021’ ↩