He said he will use his first autumn statement as Chancellor to cut energy bills “for good,” and signalled he will look into removing the fixed daily fees on electricity as well.
asserted
he → say → electricity
The gas standing charges are added to bills, regardless of how much gas a customer uses, and cost around £108 per year for a typical household.
Instead, fixed costs will be paid on the unit rate, which the Treasury said could save 60% of households an average of £45 on their annual bills.
uncertain
Treasury → add → bills
“I am determined to reform our broken energy market, so it better serves the public interest.
asserted
it → reform → interest
Mr Healey added: “Gas standing charges are unfair and outdated so I am scrapping them to give millions of households a bit of breathing space.
asserted
I → add → space
“My Budget will draw a line in the sand on an energy policy that has failed British billpayers for years, letting extra costs on bills pile high and leaving households even more exposed to global shocks.”
asserted
costs → draw → shocks
Mr Burnham told the Commons last week that he had asked Mr Healey and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh to examine abolishing standing charges.
asserted
he → tell → charges
The fee does not pay for the energy itself, but covers the cost of delivering gas and electricity to homes and businesses – including the cost of essential maintenance and infrastructure upgrades.
asserted
fee → pay → maintenance
MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis, who was in No 11 on the morning of the Budget, said he was “pleased” with the move and that Mr Healey told him he would seek to remove standing charges on electricity bills too.
asserted
he → say → bills
The campaigner predicted the gas bills policy would be implemented at the same time as either the October 1 2027 or January 1 2028 price cap change, and that the cost shift onto unit rates would translate to “just under 1p per kwH”.
asserted
shift → predict → kwH
Mr Lewis said “about 60% of people will pay less due to this, 40% more”, with the dividing line “somewhere around 12,500 kilowatt hours of gas,” as he called for support for vulnerable higher users who will have to pay more.
Concerns have been raised that some low-income consumers who use large amounts of energy could be left worse off if the costs simply moves to the unit rate part of the gas bill.
uncertain
costs → say → bill
The Treasury said ministers will “set out in due course targeted mitigation for a small number of households”.
asserted
ministers → say → households
On electricity bills, Mr Lewis wrote: “The Chancellor also said he will be talking to Ofgem about how they get rid of the charge on electricity as well, but that is ‘trickier’ apparently and will take longer.”
asserted
that → write → electricity
Mr Lewis noted that “the biggest issue in energy right now is that we’re expecting a 27% rise in the price cap in January”.
asserted
we → note → January
Household energy bills rose in October with a 4% hike to Ofgem’s energy price cap and forecasters have warned they could soar by almost another £300 from January.
uncertain
they → rise → January
Cornwall Insight’s latest forecast predicts the price cap will rise by a further 16% to £1,999 a year on January 1, up by £276 on the level between October and December and the biggest rise since January 2023.
asserted
cap → predict → January
Mr Lewis said: “I asked the Chancellor whether he will be intervening on that.
asserted
he → say → that
He told me I’d have to wait for the Budget, but reading between the lines, yes, there will be an announcement today.
asserted
I → tell → lines
He said he expected the support could come via an increase in the Warm Homes discount for people on benefits, or a payment to people in council tax bands A-D.
The Times reported that Mr Healey will also announce plans in his Budget to axe green levies from energy bills and put them onto general taxation.
uncertain
Healey → say → taxation
In a video message ahead of the autumn statement, the Chancellor said: “This Budget is designed to give households breathing space from some of the everyday costs, provide targeted support for businesses and self-employed people, and to start the long-term action needed to get energy costs down for good.”
asserted
Budget → say → costs
He acknowledged the country was facing a “difficult moment” and promised changes would be made “responsibly” within Labour’s fiscal rules.
asserted
changes → acknowledge → rules
Mr Healey will have limited scope for big giveaways because of stretched public finances, made worse by international market turmoil caused by the Iran war.
asserted
Healey → have → war
He is sticking with the fiscal rules set by predecessor Rachel Reeves, requiring day-to-day spending to be financed by taxes rather than borrowing by 2029/30 and that public debt as a share of the economy should fall in the same year.
asserted
debt → stick → year
Simon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said the decision to remove gas standing charges would “bring real relief to many low-income households who use very little energy and for prepayment customers it could stop debt building up in the summer months”.
uncertain
debt → say → months
He also said: “Moving levies off electricity bills and into general taxation, as reported, would also be a positive step.
asserted
Moving → say → taxation
“But despite the positives of the gas standing charges proposal, millions of households won’t see a saving.
asserted
millions → see → saving
“This means ministers have serious questions to answer about who they are and, if they are vulnerable or on low incomes but have high energy needs, how they will be protected.
asserted
they → mean → needs
In an effort to help households, the Government has temporarily removed the 5% VAT from electricity bills until March 31 next year to cut around £45 a year.
asserted
Government → help → 45
Households are still paying 5% VAT for gas.
asserted
Households → pay → gas
Meanwhile, The Times reported that the Budget calculations will assume the Rosebank oil field will be approved and will generate major tax revenues.
asserted
field → report → revenues
This came in for criticism from Green Party leader Zack Polanski, who said: “Today’s Budget looks like a catastrophic let down for anyone expecting Burnham to give them hope for the future, particularly young people.
asserted
Burnham → come → future
“Healey has refused to fix the foundations of the economy – and instead offered cosmetic tweaks that will do nothing to buffer people against the fossil fuel rollercoaster.
asserted
that → refuse → rollercoaster
“Meanwhile this Labour Government under Andy Burnham is now actively fuelling the climate crisis, in a way his own Foreign Secretary said was climate vandalism.
asserted
Secretary → fuel → way
“A budget based on approval of mass new oil drilling is a betrayal of our future.
asserted
budget → base → future
Instead we need to see extreme wealth taxed fairly to fund investment in our future, and an end to tax breaks for tech giants and fossil fuel companies to help bring people’s bills down.”
Long-term Government borrowing costs edged up ahead of the Budget, with the yield on 10-year government bonds, known as gilts, lifting to 5.36% from 5.35% in morning trading.
Yields on 10-year gilts – which move in the opposite direction to prices – hit their highest level since 2007 earlier this month.
The pound was also lower on Wednesday morning, down 0.2% at 1.33 US dollars and 0.1% off at 1.19 euros.
asserted
pound → need → euros
The Aporia
