Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to replicate in the 2023 Energy Bills Support Scheme the £400 non-repayable discount administered by energy suppliers and paid to consumers.

This winter, the Government is spending £55 billion to directly help households and businesses with their energy bills - amongst the largest support plans in Europe. This includes the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme. Energy suppliers are delivering this support to households in Great Britain with a domestic electricity meter over the 6 months from October 2022 to March 2023. It also includes the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) which caps the unit price households pay for electricity and gas, saving the typical household around £900 this winter.

The Government has reviewed the energy support available from April 2023 to design a new approach that is expected to cost the taxpayer less while targeting support on those most in need. At Autumn Statement the

Government announced that the EPG will be adjusted so that the typical household pays £3000 per annum from April 2023 until April 2024 on energy, saving the average household £500. At the same time, the Government has announced further support designed to target the most vulnerable households across the UK through next winter via additional Cost of Living Payments. UK households on means-tested benefits will receive a further £900 Cost of Living payment; pensioner households will receive an additional £300 Cost of Living payment and people on non-means-tested disability benefits will receive a further £150 Disability Cost of Living payment, to help with the additional costs they face. The support in 2023-24 is in addition to the support already in place to protect households this winter, including the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme, the £150 Council Tax rebate and the one-off £650 Cost of Living Payment for those on means-tested benefits, with additional support for pensioners and those claiming disability benefits.