Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many meetings on the impact of the cost of living crisis on charities his Department had with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in 2022.

We recognise this is a worrying time for many organisations that are facing pressures due to the cost-of-living crisis and the Treasury regularly engages DCMS on policy matters that impact sectors for which DCMS are responsible, including charities. We do not hold specific data on the number of times this was discussed in meetings during 2022.

To tackle the cost-of-living crisis, the Government is already taking very significant action across the United Kingdom. Through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS), the government is providing a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices for all non-domestic consumers, including charities. This is a temporary measure that protects them from soaring energy costs and applies to energy usage for six months from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023. The ongoing HMT-led review of the EBRS will determine support for UK non-domestic energy consumers beyond these six months, with the aim of reducing the public finances’ exposure to volatile international energy prices from April 2023. The Chancellor will announce the outcome of this review shortly to ensure businesses have sufficient certainty about future support before the current scheme ends in March 2023.

This builds upon the support for charities that the Government announced during the pandemic, which included a £750 million dedicated funding package that helped organisations across the UK respond to the impact of Covid-19.