£350 boost for millions to help with rising energy costs

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced that millions of households will receive £350 of government support to help protect them from rising energy costs.

Regulator Ofgem has said that millions of people will pay an extra £693 a year on their energy bills from April, with a higher price limit meaning that nearly 18 million households in England, Wales and Scotland will typically pay £1,971 a year for gas and electricity.

To help ease the increase, Sunak said that a new package would support hard working families. The Energy Bills Rebate will provide around 28 million households with an upfront discount on their bills worth £200. Energy suppliers will apply the discount to domestic electricity customers from October, with the government meeting the costs.

The discount will then be automatically recovered from people’s bills in equal £40 instalments over the next five years. This will begin from 2023, when global wholesale gas prices are expected to come down.

Households in England, which are in council tax bands A-D, will also receive a £150 rebate. The rebate to bills will be made directly by local authorities from April. This will not need to be repaid. This one-off payment will benefit around 80 per cent of all homes in England.

On top of this discount, discretionary funding of £144 million will also be provided to support vulnerable people and individuals on low incomes that do not pay Council Tax, or that pay Council Tax for properties in Bands E-H.

Sunak said: “Right now, I know the number one issue on people’s minds is the rising cost of living. That’s why the government is stepping in with direct support that will help around 28 million households with their rising energy costs over the next year. We stood behind British people and businesses throughout the pandemic and it’s right we continue to do that as our economy recovers in the months ahead.”