We are pleased to announce that Rethink Mental Illness has joined the Energy Bill Revolution alliance, for warm homes and lower bills. Rethink Mental Illness is a charity which directly supports almost 60,000 people every year across England to get through crises, to live independently and to realise they are not alone.
The Energy Bill Revolution is calling on the Government to use the money it gets from carbon taxes to make our homes super-energy efficient. This is the only permanent way to drive down energy bills and end fuel poverty.
From next year the Government will be collecting over £2 billion in carbon tax every year, rising to £4 billion by 2020 and £7 billion by 2027. Recycled back into energy efficiency programmes, this would be enough to super-insulate more than 600,000 homes a year, bringing 9 out of 10 homes out of fuel poverty. It could also quadruple carbon emission savings from households compared to the government’s new energy efficiency policies and create up to 200,000 more jobs – exactly what we need to support the UK’s economic recovery.
Associate Director of Policy, Research and Campaigns, Victoria Bleazard, said:
‘Rethink Mental Illness supports the Energy Bill Revolution because of the huge impact fuel poverty has on people affected by mental illness. As England’s leading mental health charity, we are committed to working with other charities, unions and businesses to campaign for change.’