Mel Stride MP, who chairs the influential House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, spoke in the House of Commons today and broadly welcomed the package of measures set out by the Prime Minister to help households with their energy bills. The Government will limit residential energy bill rises for two years and business energy bill rises for at least six months. A typical household energy bill will be capped at £2,500 annually until 2024. Without the cap, a typical bill was projected to rise to more than £3,500 – saving the typical family more than £1,000.
Mr Stride spoke about “frightening times” for his constituents ahead of winter and said that the package of support outlined by the Prime Minister would make a big difference. He also urged the Government to reconsider a windfall tax on energy firms to help fund the cap which is expected to cost in the region of £150 billion, depending on how energy prices fluctuate over the next two years.
Mr Stride said:
“These are a set of big and bold measures that should bring relief to millions of households and businesses. We do need to better understand their cost however and impact on the public finances. With this in mind the Treasury Select Committee is calling on the Chancellor to instruct the Office for Budget Responsibility to provide a forecast of the impact of these measures.”
