Millions of households in the UK will get more support with high energy bills to help ease the cost of living. UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announce this on Wednesday morning as a part of the spring budget. The Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) will be kept at £2,500 for an additional three months from April to June. Which will save a typical household £160.
Which focuses on easing the impact of rising prices, delivering the UK government’s promise to halve inflation. Government support has already cut the typical family energy bill by over £1,300 since October. Stopping the average household energy bill hitting £4,279 a year this winter.
From April, more support is coming online with 8 million low income. And vulnerable households set to receive at least £900 in cash payments over the next year. Benefits and pensions set to rise by over 10 per cent, and the National Living Wage increasing to a record £10.42 an hour.
The Spring Budget will go even further, providing hundreds of pounds more in help with childcare costs for parents on Universal credit. And ending the energy premium paid by households who use prepayment meters. That will save 4 million families £45 a year from July.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:
We know people are worried about their bills rising in April, so to give people some peace of mind, we’re keeping the Energy Price Guarantee at its current level until the summer when gas prices are expected to fall.
Continuing to hold down energy bills is part of our plan to help hardworking families with the cost of living and halve inflation this year.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said:
High energy bills are one of the biggest worries for families, which is why we’re maintaining the Energy Price Guarantee at its current level. With energy bills set to fall from July onwards, this temporary change will bridge the gap and ease the pressure on families, while also helping to lower inflation too.
Energy Secretary, Grant Shapps said:
Putin’s illegal war has cost British families, which is why we’ve stepped in to pay around half of the typical household energy bill.
With wholesale prices falling families will start to benefit, but in the meantime we’re stepping back in with the Energy Price Guarantee to prevent the typical electricity and gas bill exceeding £2,500. It’s just part of our plan to help families this winter.
Holding down energy bills is also part of the government’s plan to halve inflation this year. In November the Office for Budget Responsibility said that the EPG would lower the peak rate of inflation. The typical family will save £1,500 from the EPG and the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
At Autumn Statement the government announced further support on the cost of living for 2023-24
- UK households on means-tested benefits will receive a further £900 Cost of Living Payment
- Pensioner households across the UK will receive an additional £300 Cost of Living payment
- People across the UK on non-means-tested disability benefits will receive a further £150 Disability Cost of Living payment, to help with the additional costs they face