I appreciate the concerns you have raised, let me assure you that the Government is continuing to work tirelessly to support households with their energy bills and ensuring the UK’s transition to net zero.
The Government recognises the concerns over consumer energy bills. Throughout the Winter the Government has given significant amounts of financial support to support households. With the Government paying half the energy bills of most British households.
This included a £400 grant for energy bills for all which gave households a monthly discount on their electricity bills between October 2022 to March 2023. A non-repayable £150 cash rebate is being provided for homes in Council Tax bands A-D, equivalent to 80 per cent of all households and £144 million of discretionary funding for local authorities to support those not eligible for the council tax rebate. This means that hard working families will receive £550 with lower income families receiving even more help.
The Government will continue providing this year’s cost of living payments and next year it will provide extra one-off payments of £900 for the 8 million households on means-tested benefits. Furthermore, as announced in the Spring Budget, the Energy Price Guarantee has been extended at £2,500 for an additional three months to the end of June 2023 to further support households with energy bills. However, the Government recognises there is still more to be done to support households and further support our transition to net-zero.
UK levy funded support for renewable power since 2010 has totalled around £80 billion. In the Spring Budget, the Chancellor also announced an unprecedented £20 billion investment in the early development of Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), to help meet the Government’s climate commitments.
The Government does not give any subsidies to fossil fuels, and follows the approach of the International Energy Agency, which defines fossil fuel subsidies as measures that reduce the effective price of fossil fuels below world market prices. The Government has further committed to phasing out global fossil fuel subsidies, and to further changing the way oil and gas is licensed in the UK.
The Powering Up Britain has reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to phase out fossil fuels. It will reduce the reliance on imported fossil fuels, while boosting home grown renewable energy. To achieve this the Government will continue to support the energy sector to move away from expensive and dirty fossil fuels. However, I am sure you can understand that we cannot simply pull the plug on all fossil fuels overnight without this having a huge consequences all over Europe. However, the Government is going to make better use of the oil and gas in the UK by giving the energy fields of the North Sea a new lease of life. You may also welcome that between 1990 and 2019 the UK decarbonised faster than any other country in the G7.
To ensure that energy companies pay their fair share, the Chancellor increased the energy profits levy from 25 to 35 per cent in the Autumn Statement and will apply until 2028 even if energy prices fall. With over £39.9 billion raised from windfall taxes in the medium term. The Government believes that the current rate is balanced and fair and will not deter investment.
Ensuring that homes are heat efficient is vital. The Government is investing £6.6 billion over this Parliament on clean heat and improving energy efficiency in buildings, reducing our reliance on fossil fuel heating. In addition, £6 billion of new Government funding will be made available from 2025 to 2028.
