John Healey to scrap standing charges on gas bills in budget speech
Chancellor John Healey has announced that the Labour government will scrap standing charges on gas bills in his first Budget […]
Chancellor John Healey has announced that the Labour government will scrap standing charges on gas bills in his first Budget later today.
Standing charges are a fixed daily levy added regardless of how much gas has been used and will be scrapped for around 23 million homes.
The Treasury claims removing this fee will save 60% of households an average of £45 a year.
Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has regularly criticised the standing charges, calling them an “energy poll tax”.
The chancellor said: “Gas standing charges are unfair and outdated so I am scrapping them to give millions of households a bit of breathing space.
“My Budget will draw a line in the sand on an energy policy that has failed British billpayers for years, letting extra costs on bills pile high and leaving households even more exposed to global shocks.”
Healey will ask Ofgem to remove the blanket fees and instead move the charges onto unit costs by 2027 or as soon as possible after.
It is part of a number of measures aimed at helping families with the cost of living crisis.
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