The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has published full details on how it plans to deliver the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme to some 29 million households across Scotland, England and Wales. The UK Government has said it is ‘urgently’ working to ensure people in Northern Ireland also receive the equivalent of this support as soon as possible.
The £11.7 billion scheme is part of the £37 billion cost of living assistance package aimed at helping households through this winter. However, that support came in response to predictions that energy bills would rise to £2,800 for the average household in October, but since then the forecasts have become even bleaker.
Energy analysts at Cornwall Insight are predicting bills could hit £3,582 per year from October, before rising to an unthinkable £4,266 at the start of next year, which would see the average household hit with a bill for over £500 in January alone.
