Reeves warned cutting funds for home insulation would hit the poor

Rachel Reeves has been warned that cutting funding for home insulation at the budget would put Britain's climate goals at risk and hit low-income households in a joint intervention by energy firms, fuel poverty charities and environmental groups.

- Rowena Mason Pippa Crerar

In a letter to the chancellor, more than 60 groups and companies urged Reeves not to take the damaging "short-term fix" of slashing funding for more energy-efficient homes to pay for a reduction in energy bills.

The Guardian revealed this week that Reeves is finalising a multibillion-pound energy support package that is likely to cut green levies paying for energy efficiency as she seeks to save as much as £170 from the average bill.

In particular, the Treasury has been looking at cutting or getting rid of the energy company obligation (ECO), which pays to improve energy efficiency for low-income and vulnerable households with measures such as insulation and new heating schemes.

In their letter, the dozens of organisations - from Age UK and Citizens Advice to Friends of the Earth - called for the Treasury to reconsider cuts to the ECO programme, saying it would "call into question the ability to meet both the UK's fuel poverty and carbon budget targets". They also warned that it was putting thousands of jobs at risk in the £20bn energy efficiency industry and supply chain.