Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to mitigate the impact the energy price cap increase on customers.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government is committed to ensuring that support is provided to help consumers deal with the impact of high wholesale energy costs.
In response to the recent energy price cap increase, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a package of support to help households with rising energy bills, worth £9.1 billion in 2022-23. This includes a £200 rebate for households delivered via their energy bill this autumn, a £150 non-repayable reduction in Council Tax bills for all households in Bands A-D in England and £144 million of discretionary funding for Local Authorities to support households who need support but are not eligible for the Council Tax reduction. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, delivery of the council tax rebate will depend on how the Devolved Administrations choose to structure their support; they have flexibility to determine how they use their Barnett funding.
In addition to these measures, the Government will continue to provide support to vulnerable consumers through the Warm Home Discount Scheme, which this winter is providing over 2 million households a £140 rebate off their energy bill each winter. The Government has announced that the rebate will be increasing to £150 and will help an extra 780,000 households next winter. Further, Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments help ensure the most vulnerable are better able to heat their homes over the colder months.