Energy bill advice

A number of constituents have got in contact to highlight the financial pressure they are under. The cost-of-living crisis is putting households and businesses under significant pressure, and it is important that everyone has access to all the help and support available to them.

A comprehensive Q&A document has been produced by Energy UK, Ofgem, Citizens Advice, Citizens Advice Scotland and Advice Direct Scotland. The information ranges from what support is available to customers through to what the price cap is and how it operates.

If in doubt – please get in contact with my constituency office for advice – at jeff.smith.mp@parliament.uk

Labour’s plan to freeze energy bills

Ideally, there should be intervention to prevent consumers from facing hardship in the first place. Labour have recently called for a cap on energy bills – so no one pays a penny more on their bills this winter.

Stopping energy bills from rising is a fully-funded measure, with a total cost of £29bn. That will cover: 

• a freeze in energy bills for all domestic energy customers
• support for customers not protected by the price cap  
• making sure the price people on prepayments meters pay for energy is the same as people who pay their bills monthly
• and it would cover households off grid from both gas and electricity.

Stopping energy bills from rising is a fully-funded measure. We’d pay for that in three ways: 

• First, with increased tax revenues from oil and gas producers. Labour would close the Government’s absurd loophole in their Energy profits levy, backdate the start date to when Labour first called for a windfall tax to January, and accounting for higher gas and oil prices, would raise £8bn. 
• Second, we would use the already-pledged £14bn of non-targeted funding to prevent bills from rising, giving people the security to plan ahead, rather than giving that money back in hand-outs later on. 
• Finally, by keeping energy bills down, we’ll reduce the rate of inflation, leading to a reduction in government debt interest payments of £7bn.

The Warm Homes Plan and investment in sustainable British energy would be funded from Labour’s Climate Investment Pledge, a plan to tackle the climate crisis, strengthen our energy security, create good jobs in new industries, and cut bills for good. 

Jeff Smith MP is calling for the government to back his campaign. Sign his petition and show the government that action has to be taken now to freeze energy bills