Council candidates have been lining up to a pledge to help end fuel poverty as part of their local election campaigns.

The pledge, created by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, calls on council candidates to improve the energy efficiency of Council and housing association housing stock if elected.

Prospective candidates signing the pledge also commit to backing better enforcement of existing regulations on energy efficiency and property standards in the private rented sector and campaigning to reform Britain’s broken energy system.

The pledge was launched after research from the Warm This Winter campaign showed that over half the population in England (54%) say they are unhappy or very unhappy with the level of support for energy bills which is now available. Just 12% say they are happy or very happy with the support on offer.

Councillors and council candidates can find out more about the pledge online at https://www.endfuelpoverty.org.uk/end-fuel-poverty-councillor-pledge/ and the Coalition is compiling a list of supportive candidates on Twitter.

At the start of April hundreds of people took action in a mass lobby of politicians to call for change at a national level, with over 80 events taking place at MPs constituency offices across the UK calling on them to sign the Warm This Winter MP pledge.

The local elections in May are the first where people will need to show photo ID to be able to vote.

People affected by the energy bills crisis should initially contact their energy firm or Citizens Advice for help.