Households in England, Scotland and Wales are set to have hundreds of pounds knocked off energy bills as part of a package worth billions to help people cope with soaring prices. The government is to scrap a plan to give people £200 off bills from October which would be repaid over five years. Instead, the BBC understands that sum will be increased and possibly doubled, and will not need to be paid back. Additional help for those on the lowest incomes is also expected. The support, to be announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak later, is expected to be largely funded by a windfall tax on oil and gas firms that could raise £7bn. It comes a day after Sue Gray's critical report into lockdown parties in Downing Street and follows intense pressure on the government to do more to help people with the cost of living crisis. Earlier this week the UK's energy regulator Ofgem said the typical household energy bill was set to rise by £800 in October, bringing the typical household bill to £2,800 a year. Bills had already risen on average by £700 in April. Ofgem warned it meant 12 million households could be placed into fuel poverty. Most people living in homes in England in council tax bands A-D have already received a £150 rebate on their bills. Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said the "bulk" of government support needed to go to those on the lowest incomes "who are suffering the most severe consequences of this cost of living crisis". She told the BBC the charity was now helping more than 750 people every day with food bank vouchers. "We have got people in this country who cannot put food on the table, they cannot keep their lights on and the heating on," she said. Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said offering a universal payment would mean a lot of the money would go to households who "don't desperately need it". He also warned... |