In this funding round,15 awards worth a total of £2.5 million are being made from the Main and Small Funds. These projects focus on keeping people warm by providing essential advice through clinics and dedicated energy advice officers.

One successful application made to the Main Fund was from the Rural Environmental Action Project (REAP), which is receiving £184,000 for its Moray Energy Action Programme (MEAP). The programme will continue to provide support for households that are most at risk from cold homes and high energy bills.

Segun Adebayo, project manager, Rural Environmental Action Project, said: “It’s a great delight to be able to continue supporting vulnerable households across Moray, a community with one of the highest fuel poverty rates in Scotland. This funding will go a long way in our quest to provide impartial, quality energy advice that makes a real difference to everyday people.”

Healthy Homes Shropshire Phase 2 (HHS2) is receiving £290,000 to support 3,000 fuel poor households with free, independent energy advice and help thousands more with clear, reliable information through communications and outreach activity.

Clare Woolley, area lead, Marches Energy Agency, added: “We’re delighted to have secured ongoing funding through the Redress Scheme to continue our Healthy Homes Shropshire project. Not only can we provide expert, individual energy advice via the freephone service, at home visits and at community hubs, but this funding will also enable us to continue building robust referral networks with the health and care sector.

“This will raise awareness of fuel poverty as an issue and ensure that those who need help know where to get it. We hope that this will strengthen cross-agency working and prevent vulnerable people suffering the very real health impacts of being cold at home.”

Through funding from the Carbon Emissions Reduction Fund, Dorset Community Energy will continue to facilitate community ownership of renewable energy production through Local Energy Clubs so that households can benefit from green energy produced locally.

Innovative funding will be used by a Repowering Limited project to build capacity and facilitate access to retrofit for private blocks of flats. A Charge My Street project will support homes without driveways to access savings through electric vehicle (EV) charging from solar panels and cheap off-peak night-time electricity. Also receiving funding is the Southern Staffordshire Community Energy project, which helps vulnerable hospital patient groups whose need for treatment is caused or exacerbated by living in cold and/or damp homes and classified as fuel poor.

Over five years, the Energy Redress Scheme has distributed a total of £85.5 million funding to support 491 projects in England, Scotland and Wales. The funding is collected through Ofgem’s enforcement and compliance activity, where companies that have breached energy rules agree to make a voluntary payment into the Energy Redress Scheme.

The three funding rounds include the Main and Small fund, which are aimed at projects supporting households in vulnerable situations. The Carbon Emission Reduction Fund (CERF) supports energy-related activities that will see a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from energy use. Finally, the Innovative Fund supports the development of pioneering products and services related to energy.

Graham Ayling, senior project manager for the Energy Redress Scheme, commented: “We’re pleased to be able to announce £3 million of new support to voluntary sector organisations today. These funds will enable organisations to provide meaningful help to more people struggling to heat and power their homes through this cost of living crisis. It also funds some great new initiatives that empower more people to engage with and share the benefits of the UK’s transition to net zero.”

Russell Ogilvie, head of enforcement for Ofgem, said: “Our compliance and enforcement action ensures the energy industry is held to the highest standards.

“The Voluntary Redress Fund is our direct line to ensure that vulnerable consumers are the ones who benefit when suppliers pay for letting them down.

“We are proud to work in partnership with Energy Saving Trust and find it immensely rewarding to see the direct results of our activity reaching communities up and down the country.”