Cost of Living

Support for Households:

Energy Bills Support Scheme 

Provided a £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households to help with their energy bills over winter 2022 to 2023.

Energy Price Guarantee

The Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) limits the amount that you can be charged per unit of gas or electricity, so your exact bill amount will continue to be influenced by how much energy you use.

From 1st October 2022 up until 30th June 2023, the EPG provides a support rate discount to all households with a domestic gas and/or electricity contract.

The EPG was extended for an additional 3 months from April to the end of June. You do not need to apply, and there’s no need to contact your energy supplier. 

For more information, please see here. 

Energy Price Guarantee - from 1st July 2023 onward

From 1st July 2023, households without a pre-payment meter will no longer receive an Energy Price Guarantee discount on their gas and electricity bills. This is because the Ofgem price cap will be lower than the Energy Price Guarantee level, meaning that households will pay the rate set by the price cap.

For the period of July to September 2023, the Ofgem price cap will be set at £2,074 for a typical household per year.

The Energy Price Guarantee will remain in place as a safety net until the end of March 2024 - should energy prices increase above £3,000 per year.

For more information and for households with a pre-payment meter, please see here.

Alternative Fuel Payment

Many of my constituents are off the gas grid so use alternative fuels, such as heating oil or LPG to heat their homes.

The Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP) provided a one-off payment of £200 to UK households that use alternative fuels for heating, such as heating oil or LPG, instead of mains gas. The £200 payment was calculated to ensure that a typical customer using heating oil does not face a higher rate of growth in their heating costs since last winter, in comparison to those using mains gas who are supported by the Energy Price Guarantee.

Households eligible for these payments will have received £200 as a credit on their electricity bill. Households who are eligible for but who do not receive the AFP or the £200 heat network payment, because they do not have a relationship with an electricity supplier for example, will receive the £200 via the AFP Alternative Fund. The application portal for those who do not receive the payment automatically has now closed, but you can call the helpline to get help with an existing application.

Helpline:
Telephone: 0808 175 3943
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm

The government will continue to monitor the prices of alternative fuels, such as heating oil, and will consider further intervention if required to protect UK households from extraordinary fuel prices. 

You may be able to get other kinds of support, including:

• Three £300 Cost of Living Payments for households on means tested benefits
• a £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment, to be paid alongside the Winter Fuel Payment
• a £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment for people who get certain disability benefits
• help from the Household Support Fund from your local council

For more information about other types of support with the cost of living: https://www.gov.uk/cost-of-living

Support for Businesses, Schools & Charities:

Energy Bill Relief Scheme

This scheme provided energy bill relief for non-domestic customers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Discounts applied to energy usage between 1st October 2022 and 31st March 2023, supporting businesses and public sector organisations such as schools and hospitals by providing a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices.

Energy Bills Discount Scheme

Following the HM Treasury-led review and the end of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme in March 2023, the Government introduced the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS), in place from April 2023 to April 2024 for eligible non-domestic consumers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 

The scheme is made up of 3 different parts:

1. The baseline discount provides some support with energy bills for eligible non-domestic customers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland – this support is applied automatically

2. The Energy and Trade Intensive Industries (ETII) discount provides a higher level of support to businesses and organisations in eligible sectors – you need to apply for this support

3. The Heat Network discount provides a higher level of support to heat networks with domestic end consumers – you need to apply for this support

The EBDS therefore strikes a balance between supporting businesses over the next 12 months and limiting taxpayer’s exposure to volatile energy markets, with a cap set at £5.5 billion based on estimated volumes.

For more information, please see here.

Other support for business/non-domestic customers

There is a range of ongoing schemes in place to support businesses with their energy costs. These include:

• the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF), which consists of £315 million live grant funding that supports manufacturers with high energy use to cut their energy bills and carbon emissions by investing in energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies
• a number of advice and support schemes that businesses may be eligible for, to help to improve the energy performance of buildings and processes and lower their energy bills. Search for local schemes that provide advice and grants
• the UK Business Climate Hub which provides practical steps on cutting emissions and saving money. If businesses are based in England, they may also be able to access support via local Growth Hubs, who they can get in touch with to find out more
• at Budget 2021 the government committed to freezing the business rates multiplier in 2022 to 2023, which is a tax cut worth £4.6 billion to businesses over the next 5 years