Chancellor John Healey is planning a major intervention to cut energy bills for poorer households in this month’s budget, reports The Guardian.
This may involve more than £1bn of spending heavily going towards increasing the energy bill discount given to households on certain benefits.
The most likely solution is understood to be increasing the warm homes discount, which currently stands at £150 for households on Pension Credit, Universal credit and income-related employment and support allowance.
Mr Healey would allegedly raise this discount to £250 and fund the increase through taxpayers rather than billpayers.
Alex Chapman, Head of Economic and Environmental policy at NEF, said: “A serious price spike is coming, and without action, bills will exceed the peak of the last crisis. The government must use the budget to put in place both targeted support for the most vulnerable and, critically, a safety net for all.
“Repeated crises have exposed the flaws in our privatised energy system – these can only be fixed by fundamental reform. This means capturing the benefits of cheap renewables and offering every household a ‘block’ of essential energy at a truly protected and affordable price.”
The announcement, if made, will be a part of the Autumn budget on 28th October.
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