Rishi Sunak slammed by poverty campaigners for playing 'Russian roulette with loans' for rising energy bills
dailyrecord.co.ukThe £693 rise in energy bills this April will be a “hammer blow” for Scottish households, consumer campaigners and politicians have warned.Ofgem’s price cap announcement will see the average household’s energy bill rise by nearly £700 annually after a 54 per cent increase to the maximum power companies can charge.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a package of emergency measures for households to offset the steep rises, including £200 rebates on bills in the form of loans to the power companies which will be repaid by consumers at £40 a year for the next five years.
A move to cut household expenses by giving rebates on council tax bills in England will mean £290 million of extra funding for the Scottish Government to decide how to use.But the emergency cash will not touch the sides for families facing inflation forecasts of 7.5 per cent and rising interest rates along with national insurance rises and benefit cuts.Derek Mitchell, Citizens Advice Scotland Chief Executive, said: “This eye-watering increase is a hammer blow for consumers.
One in three of us already find bills unaffordable and shamefully almost half a million people in Scotland have had to cut back on food to deal with unaffordable bills.”He added: “We need immediate direct interventions. .
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