Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to protect households and businesses from potential increases in energy costs arising from disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Government recognises that households and businesses across the country will see the recent global events and once again be concerned about the impact on their energy bills. We continue to monitor the situation closely and we are looking at what further support may be needed.

At the Autumn Budget we committed to taking money off energy bills and we have. The energy price cap will provide protection for households until the start of July, regardless of developments in the Middle East. Ofgem has confirmed that the price cap will fall by 7% or £117 annually for the period covering April to June. The price cap for that period is fixed and will not change.

In addition to this, around 6 million families are benefitting from the expansion of the £150 Warm Home Discount, and through the Warm Homes Plan the Government is delivering the biggest investment in home upgrades in British history.

We’ll shortly publish details of how we will reduce electricity bills by up to 25% for over 7,000 businesses, while our Supercharger package of support will also cut businesses’ electricity costs by up to £420 million per year.