Social Security Benefits: Energy

(asked on 11th October 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to take steps to provide help with high energy costs to people who are receiving non means-tested benefits.


Answered by
Victoria Prentis Portrait
Victoria Prentis
This question was answered on 19th October 2022

The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Government has announced unprecedented support within its Growth Plan to protect households and businesses from high energy prices. The Energy Price Guarantee and the Energy Bill Relief Scheme are supporting millions of households and businesses with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear, they will continue to do so from now until April next year.

The consumer saving will be based on usage, but a typical household will save at least £1,000 a year (based on current prices from October). This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost-of-living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

The £37bn of support also includes more than 8 million pensioner households receiving a one-off payment of £300 alongside the Winter Fuel Payment from November, and 6 million eligible disabled people receiving a one-off Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 from 20 September.

Also included in the cost-of-living support is the current Household Support Fund in England, which will be providing up to £421m of support to those most in need for the period October 2022 - March 2023.The devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula as usual.

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