Campaign Reply: Cost of Living Support

I understand anxiety over rising prices. The Prime Minister has made halving inflation this year a top priority, easing as it will the cost of living and giving people financial security. I fully support these efforts.

Covid and Putin’s war in Ukraine have caused immense challenges for our country, with energy prices rising and families facing significant cost-of-living pressures. 

The Government has introduced an Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) which will give people certainty with their bills. This guarantee limits the amount you can be charged per unit of gas or electricity. The current price guarantee, set at £3,000, will support households between now and April 2024, ensuring that households are supported through the rest of the year. Although energy prices are currently below the level at which EPG payments would be made, it will remain in force until the end of March 2024 to protect households from price spikes, putting in place a safety net for households up and down the country.

Furthermore, at the Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a substantial support package for the most vulnerable for 2023/24, including £300 Cost-of-Living Payments for pensioners, £150 for people on disability benefits, and up to £900 for people on means-tested benefits. The Government is also providing £1 billion of extra funding by extending the Household Support Fund to March 2024, bringing the total of the Fund to £2.5 billion. 

Through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS), the Government provided a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices for all non-domestic customers whose current bills have been significantly inflated in light of global energy prices until 31 March 2023. The EBRS has now been replaced by the Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS) which will run until March 2024. The EBDS will support businesses and other non-domestic customers by providing a discount on gas and electricity unit prices.

The Government continues to work with business to ensure that we have access to safe, nutritious and affordable food from a wide range of sources, particularly from British farmers. The Government Food Strategy sets out the Government’s ambition and priorities for the food system, which sets out plans to be able to grow and eat more of our own food and help to reduce the pressure on prices.