An energy boss has called for the government to do more to help customers struggling with the cost of living crisis.
Greg Jackson, the founder of Octopus Energy, appeared on BBC Radio 4's Today programme and claimed that the government's relief package intended to help households were "clearly not sufficient now".
He also called on energy companies and the government to rally together and figure out how to solve the energy crisis, stating that there is "no company that can tackle this problem alone or indeed working just with other companies. It needs companies and governments to work together".
He continued: "I think, as I said, the last support package was really significant. It’s just that the crisis has deepened since then, and that’s why it needs revisiting. We just know that the level of increases is going to be unmanageable for so many without the right support from the Government and it’s beyond what any one company can do.”
Meanwhile, Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng have announced that they will ask gas and electric companies to submit a breakdown of expected profits and payouts as well as investment plans for the next three years.
It has also been confirmed by Education Secretary James Cleverly that meetings will take place to examine concerns over energy blackouts this winter. He said the UK is in a "better position than many" when it comes to domestic energy supply, but it is "not going to be easy".
Mr Cleverly told ITV’s Good Morning Britain (GMB): “The Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Business Secretary are actually calling in the leaders of those big energy companies to knock some heads together and basically hold them to account about what they’re going to do with those profits.
“The increase in energy costs has been driven by the war in Ukraine and a global crunch, this is affecting everyone pretty much across the world, everyone in the developing world is seeing those energy bills go up.
“What we need to do is make sure that we have a short, medium and long-term plan, so the Chancellor and the Business Secretary are getting those energy companies in as part of the short-term response.
“Our system means that once the Prime Minister has said he is going to stand down there is a well-established principle, which is that an outgoing prime minister should not make very big policy-changing decisions.”
When asked about the possibility of energy blackouts in the winter, Mr Cleverly told Sky News: "We’ve got to understand that we are in a global market, we are in a global energy market, and the things which are affecting us are affecting everyone around the world.
“We are in a better position than many in terms of our domestic energy production and there is every reason to believe that we can get through this. It’s not going to be easy, but we are resilient, we’ve seen through the Covid situation, we are a resourceful, resilient, agile country and will continue to be so.”
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