diff --git a/changelog.d/502.md b/changelog.d/502.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..21fbb9dca --- /dev/null +++ b/changelog.d/502.md @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +- Add a Warm Home Discount planning docs page at `docs/book/programs/gov/ofgem/warm-home-discount-plan.md` covering the two-group structure (auto Core Group 1 keyed on Pension Credit Guarantee Credit, EPC-based Core Group 2 in England, application-based Core 2 in Scotland/Wales), the devolved variants, and a three-phase implementation route that recommends modelling only Core Group 1 in v1 as the cleanest defensible scope. diff --git a/docs/book/programs/gov/ofgem/warm-home-discount-plan.md b/docs/book/programs/gov/ofgem/warm-home-discount-plan.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c75423bea --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/book/programs/gov/ofgem/warm-home-discount-plan.md @@ -0,0 +1,129 @@ +# Warm Home Discount (planned) + +```{warning} +**Not yet modelled.** The Warm Home Discount (WHD) is an Ofgem-administered +scheme that pays a one-off rebate of £150 per qualifying household per +winter, off their domestic electricity bill. PolicyEngine UK doesn't +currently model it. This page captures the proposed scope, tracked +under [#502](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk/issues/502). +``` + +## Why modelling WHD is harder than it looks + +The Warm Home Discount has two components, with different eligibility +rules: + +- **Core Group 1**: people in receipt of the **Guarantee Credit element + of Pension Credit**. This group is identified automatically by DWP + data-matching and the rebate is applied to their electricity bill + without an application. Eligibility for this group is a clean, + centrally-defined rule and is straightforwardly modellable from the + existing PolicyEngine variables (`pension_credit`). +- **Core Group 2** ("Broader Group" until 2022-23): people whose home is + **assessed as having a high energy cost** and who are on certain + qualifying means-tested benefits (UC, IS, JSA-IB, ESA-IR, HB, CTC, WTC + in particular bands). The high-energy-cost assessment uses an + Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) plus VOA property data; the + qualifying-benefit list shifted in England in 2022-23 ([source][gov-2022]). + +The combination of (a) the EPC-based property assessment, (b) different +schemes in England, Scotland, and Wales, and (c) the absence of a +public point-in-time eligibility register makes this harder to model +than typical means-tested benefits. + +## Devolved variants + +| Nation | Core 1 (PC Guarantee Credit) | Core 2 ("Broader Group") | +|--------|-------------------------------|---------------------------| +| England | yes — auto, £150 | yes — EPC-based property assessment + qualifying benefits | +| Scotland | yes — auto, £150 | by **application** through energy suppliers; criteria vary year to year | +| Wales | yes — auto, £150 | by **application** through energy suppliers; criteria vary year to year | + +Scotland and Wales did not adopt the 2022 England reform that swapped +the application-based Broader Group for the EPC-based Core 2; instead +both retain the application model. + +## Proposed scope + +### Phase 1 — Core Group 1 only + +The single cleanest WHD modelling target: payment to any household +with positive `pension_credit_guarantee_credit` in the winter season. +~1 million households per year by DWP outturn (out of ~3 million WHD +recipients). + +- New parameter `gov.ofgem.warm_home_discount.core_group_1.amount` + (£150 since winter 2022-23, £140 before). +- New variable `warm_home_discount_core_1` (Household, YEAR) = + `amount` if any benunit member has positive Pension Credit Guarantee + Credit, else 0. +- Roll into a `warm_home_discount` umbrella variable; Phase 2 adds the + Core Group 2 leg. + +### Phase 2 — Core Group 2 (England) + +Requires: + +- Adding EPC band as a household input variable (or imputing it from + property age/type via a `policyengine-uk-data` second-stage QRF). +- Encoding the qualifying-benefit list per scheme year (the list + changed in winter 2022-23). +- Property-cost-score parameters from Ofgem's annual scheme rules. + +This is the bulk of the work. + +### Phase 3 — Scotland and Wales + +Application-based Core 2 isn't modellable from administrative +eligibility rules alone. The reasonable approximation is a take-up rate +applied to the same qualifying-benefit set: + +- A `would_claim_warm_home_discount_scotland` / `_wales` stochastic + flag in `policyengine-uk-data` calibrated against Ofgem-published + Scottish/Welsh recipient counts. + +## Alternative: model as a Core 1-only umbrella + +Given the complexity of Phase 2 and the relatively modest fiscal +weight of WHD (~£400m/year on Core 1 across the UK), a defensible v1 +is to model **only** Core Group 1 and document Core Group 2 as +under-imputed. That captures the most policy-relevant slice (Pension +Credit interaction, eligibility through the means-tested-benefit +ladder) at minimal modelling cost. + +Reform analysis using PolicyEngine to "expand WHD to all UC +households" or similar would still work with Phase 1 alone by setting +a Core-1-equivalent uplift on the WHD parameter. + +## Data needs + +- **Ofgem WHD statistics**: + [Warm Home Discount Scheme: annual reports](https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/warm-home-discount-annual-reports) + give per-scheme-year recipient counts and total spend by group. +- **DWP Pension Credit caseload** — already used for Pension Credit + calibration; no new data work needed for Phase 1. +- **EPC distribution by property type** for Phase 2 — VOA + ONS data + exist but need cross-walking to FRS rows. + +## Open questions + +- The WHD scheme year runs October to March; PolicyEngine UK + variables are year-level. Should the variable represent the rebate + paid during the simulation year (Oct-Mar payments), or the rebate + accrued during the simulation year (Mar-Oct accrual window)? UC and + Pension Credit conventions suggest the former. +- The auto-payment for Core Group 1 means the rebate is functionally + irreversible — it doesn't depend on the household applying. Does the + model need a `would_claim_warm_home_discount` flag at all for Core 1, + or should it just be `defined_for = "has_pension_credit_guarantee_credit"`? + Recommendation: skip the take-up gate for Core 1. + +## References + +- [Warm Home Discount Scheme: official guidance](https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme). +- [Warm Home Discount (England and Wales) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/687)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/687/contents) — the 2022-23 reform that introduced the EPC-based England Core Group 2. +- [Warm Home Discount (Scotland) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/690)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/690/contents) — devolved variant. +- Ofgem, [Warm Home Discount Scheme: annual reports][gov-2022]. +- Issue: [#502](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk/issues/502). + +[gov-2022]: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/warm-home-discount-annual-reports