Millions to receive £350 boost to help with rising energy costs

Recognising that growing cost of living pressures was the “number one issue on people’s minds”, Rishi Sunak said this 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 and is £1bn more generous and more targeted towards lower-income families than a VAT cut on energy bills.

On top of this discount, discretionary funding of £144m 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.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi 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.”

The support package comes after energy regulator Ofgem today announced an increase to the energy price cap as a result of the soaring global wholesale price of gas, which has quadrupled in the past year.

This will see almost a £700 increase in energy bills for the average household from April 1 - but, as a result of the targeted Energy Bills Rebate, the vast majority of households will receive £350 to reduce this cost.

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