New plans to expand £150 Warm Home Discount to help over six million people next winter

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Nearly three million more households would be eligible for discounts on their energy bills next winter under new proposals. The UK Government is consulting on offering more support to people facing an “unpredictable international energy market”.The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said on Tuesday one in five families in Britain would get financial help in the proposals, adding around 2.7 million extra households, including nearly one million with children, would be eligible for the £150 Warm Home Discount Scheme next winter.

This would bring the total number of eligible households to an estimated 6.1m.The consultation is in response to an increase in energy bills from April.

Ofgem confirmed on Tuesday household energy bills, for those on the standard tariff, will rise by 6.4 per cent from £1,738 to £1,849 - an increase of £9.25 per month, some £111 over the next year.Prices are set independently from the UK Government and DESNZ said the April hike is due to “gas price spikes” this winter and the ongoing effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “This Government is determined to do everything we can to protect people from the grip of fossil fuel markets.

Expanding the Warm Home Discount can help protect millions of families from rising energy bills, offering support to consumers across the country.“This is a Government that will always stand up for working people.“Alongside this, the way to deliver energy security and bring down bills for good is to deliver our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower - with homegrown clean power that we in Britain control.”The Government will work with Ofgem to speed-up proposals on a possible debt relief scheme.This would