Closing summary
Ofgem has announced it will reveal the full scale of the energy price cap hike earlier than expected, as it emerged that the government may introduce a measure to slash £200 from household energy bills in order to soften the blow.
The energy regulator will announce at 11am on Thursday what is expected to be the steepest ever increase in household bills, amid growing speculation that the Treasury is considering a multibillion-pound move to protect households from the full brunt of the increase. Energy debt advice and crisis support have already surged to record levels, according to the charity Citizens Advice.
The UK government has announced its plan for levelling up, with a focus on devolution, transport, education and raising the pay and productivity of towns and cities outside London and the south east. However, critics seized on the lack of new funding.
Inflation in the eurozone unexpectedly ticked up to 5.1% in January, instead of slowing to 4.4% as forecast –- a new record high. This is more than twice the European Central Bank’s target, but the bank –– which holds a policy meeting tomorrow -- has so far shrugged off rising inflation, saying that it is temporary.
In the US, companies cut 301,000 jobs between December and January, according to the payrolls processing firm ADP, while economists had expected them to take on 200,000 people. It is the first time the private sector has cut jobs since December 2020, ADP said.
Stock markets have climbed between 0.1% and 1% in Europe, while Wall Street is also ahead, although gains over here have been limited ahead of central banks’ policy meetings tomorrow (European Central Bank, Bank of England).
Our other main stories today:
Thank you for reading and commenting. We’ll be back tomorrow. Bye! - JK
The landlord run by the billionaire Guy Hands’ private equity firm has issued the government a two-week ultimatum to drop legal action to take over 38,000 homes for military families and instead accept a one-off refurbishment payment of £105m, reports my colleague Jasper Jolly.
The Ministry of Defence revealed last week it planned to bring the properties back under government control, 25 years after a privatisation deal that has been criticised by the National Audit Office, the government’s spending watchdog, as a waste of taxpayers’ money.
The landlord Annington’s offer would represent less than £2,800 per property, a figure that is thought to be unlikely to cover the costs of extensive repairs in some of the more dilapidated homes – and is lower than the MoD’s £140m spending on maintenance for a single year. It would also represent just over an eighth of what Annington paid out in a dividend to its parent company last year.
