Home energy advice services in England: hard-to-reach and digitally excluded consumers

This report presents findings of a mixed-methods research project exploring the scale and scope of energy advice provision in England, and the needs and preferences of hard-to-reach and digitally excluded consumers, including trusted sources and effective engagement approaches. The research was completed by the Energy Saving Trust and involved: interviews, a survey, and online workshops with energy advice providers in England interviews and deliberative workshops with hard-to-reach and digitally excluded consumers secondary data analysis Home energy advice services in England: Current state of play and meeting the needs of hard-to-reach and digitally excluded consumers PDF , 645 KB , 34 pages Home energy advice services in England: Current state of play and meeting the needs of hard-to-reach and digitally excluded consumers: technical annex PDF , 1.26 MB , 75 pages Energy Saving Trust (2023) RAF032/2223 Home energy advice services in England: Current state of play and meeting the needs of hard-to-reach and digitally excluded consumers Research report Completed by Energy Saving Trust for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero prior to the general election in the United Kingdom in July 2024. As such, any references to government policies, commitments, or initiatives may reflect the stance of the previous administration and were accurate at the time of fieldwork and writing. Views expressed in this report are from the relevant research agencies, based on data collected from research participants and other evidence, and not necessarily those of the UK government. © Crown copyright 2023 This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk. Where we have identified any third-party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. Home energy advice services in England: hard-to-reach and digitally excluded consumers 3 Contents Contents __________________________________________________________________ 3 1 Executive Summary ________________________________________________________ 4 1.1. Introduction __________________________________________________________ 4 1.2. Key findings _________________________________________________________ 4 2. Introduction _____________________________________________________________ 7 2.1. Background _________________________________________________________ 7 2.2. Research objectives ___________________________________________________ 7 2.3. Methodology _________________________________________________________ 8 3. Findings _______________________________________________________________ 9 3.1. Current advice provision ________________________________________________ 9 3.1.1. Geographical coverage _____________________________________________ 9 3.1.2. Types of advice __________________________________________________ 10 3.1.3. Channels for advice provision _______________________________________ 11 3.1.4. Target customers _________________________________________________ 12 3.1.5. Advice models ___________________________________________________ 13 3.2. HTR and DE consumers _______________________________________________ 14 3.2.1. Consumer profiles ________________________________________________ 15 3.2.2. Geographical distribution of HTR and DE consumers _____________________ 16 3.3. Understanding and engaging HTR/DE consumers __________________________ 18 3.3.1. Catalysts for seeking advice ________________________________________ 18 3.3.2. Where and how do they seek advice? _________________________________ 20 3.3.3. Types of advice sought ____________________________________________ 20 3.3.4. What information sources do consumers trust? __________________________ 22 3.3.5. Barriers to seeking advice (including digital inclusion) _____________________ 23 3.3.6. Enablers for seeking advice _________________________________________ 26 3.3.7. Delivering energy advice to HTR and DE ______________________________ 27 4. Conclusions ___________________________________________________________ 31 Home energy advice services in England: hard-to-reach and digitally excluded consumers 4 1 Executive Summary 1.1. Introduction The Government committed in the Energy Security Strategy that by the summer of 2022, it would launch a comprehensive energy advice service on GOV.UK which would help consumers navigate what can be an unknown territory to improve the energy performance of their homes. Additionally, the Government committed to launch additional support for the hard- to-reach (HTR) and digitally excluded (DE) homeowners through telephone support and local in-person advice. To support the design and delivery of the phoneline and local in-person advice provisions, the Gover

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