Burnham looking at ‘range of support’ for families facing another bills hike this winter, says Energy Secretary – but help might only go to ‘vulnerable’ households and how will PM pay for it?
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Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh has given more detail on the government's thinking on winter energy bill support, saying in a Reddit "ask me anything" session that ministers are considering "a range of support" including long-term targeted help and home upgrades that could save over £500, while acknowledging the existing £150 warm home discount alone is not enough. She also signalled possible changes to standing charges and confirmed further policy costs could be moved off bills, though stressed that support was likely to be focused on "vulnerable households" rather than universal. This comes as Ofgem prepares to announce the new price cap on Wednesday and as Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces pressure over how he will fund promised relief given strained public finances.
Typical dual-fuel bills are expected to rise around 4 per cent to roughly £1,729 a year from October, driven partly by the Iran conflict pushing up wholesale prices, taking bills to their highest winter level in three years. This undermines the Prime Minister's plan to scrap VAT on electricity bills, expected to save only around £45 annually and funded by cancelling the £1.8 billion digital ID scheme, itself criticised as unfunded. Ahead of the 28 October Budget, Starmer has admitted he "won't be unrealistic" about the public finances and has not ruled out further tax rises.
- Energy Secretary hints at more winter bill support, likely for "vulnerable households" only
- Typical bills forecast to rise 4% to about £1,729 from October
- PM's electricity VAT cut funding remains disputed ahead of the Budget
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Ministers have been under pressure over rising household energy bills for months, and the government has already promised some form of help ahead of winter. Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh, whose department oversees energy policy, has been setting out how that support might work, while Ofgem, the industry regulator, sets the price cap that determines what suppliers can charge. The existing £150 warm home discount is a long-standing scheme that reduces bills for some households, but ministers have acknowledged it does not go far enough on its own.
Bills matter because they affect nearly every household in the country and tend to rise most sharply in autumn and winter, when heating use increases. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has separately proposed removing VAT from electricity bills, a tax cut intended to ease costs, but this would need to be paid for at a time when the government's public finances are already stretched. The upcoming Budget is the moment when tax and spending decisions like this are expected to be confirmed.
Behind this sits a broader debate about who should receive help: some argue support should go to all households facing higher bills, while others say it should be targeted at those considered most vulnerable, such as pensioners or low-income families. This question, along with how any support is funded, is central to the wider political and economic debate over the cost of living in the UK.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Those broadly supportive of the government's approach argue that with public finances stretched, help must be concentrated on those who need it most rather than spread thinly across every household, many of whom can absorb a modest rise. They see merit in pairing immediate relief for vulnerable groups with structural fixes, such as home upgrades and moving policy costs off bills, as a more durable answer than a one-off giveaway, and regard fiscal caution ahead of the Budget as responsible stewardship rather than reluctance to help.
The case against
Critics argue that with typical bills reaching their highest winter level in three years and the promised VAT cut worth only around £45, ministers are offering too little, too late, while leaving many households just above any 'vulnerable' threshold to fend for themselves. They contend that funding a flagship pledge by cancelling another unfunded scheme, rather than through clear and honest revenue choices, exposes a lack of a coherent plan, and that a government elected partly on cost-of-living relief owes the public firmer, broader commitments rather than vague talk of a 'range of support' days before the price cap is announced.
Full account
Andy Burnham's government is examining a range of financial support measures for households ahead of another expected rise in energy bills this winter, Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh has said, though she indicated any additional help would likely be targeted at 'vulnerable' households rather than offered universally. Her comments come ahead of Ofgem's announcement on Wednesday of the revised energy price cap covering October to December, with typical dual-fuel bills forecast to rise by around 4 per cent to roughly £1,729 a year — the highest winter level in three years. The increase has been attributed to the conflict in the Middle East pushing up wholesale gas and electricity prices, and comes despite the Prime Minister's separate plan to remove VAT from electricity bills from October.
Speaking during a Reddit 'ask me anything' session on Tuesday, Fahnbulleh said she understood why people were 'worried and frustrated' about their bills and insisted the government was doing 'everything we can' to make energy more affordable. Asked whether the existing £150 warm home discount went far enough, she said it would help almost a third of households in her Peckham constituency but acknowledged it was only 'a start'. She said ministers were looking at a broader package of measures for households under the most pressure, ranging from longer-term targeted bill support to a programme of home insulation and efficiency upgrades, which she suggested could save eligible households more than £500 a year.
The Energy Secretary also addressed the standing charges that households pay daily regardless of how much energy they use, describing them as a genuine 'bugbear' for many people. While she stopped short of committing to scrap them, she said the government was working with Ofgem to explore fairer ways of recovering these fixed system costs, warning that removing them outright would simply push up prices elsewhere on bills. Pressed on calls to strip all policy costs from energy bills entirely, she pointed to steps already taken, including the scrapping of an energy efficiency scheme that had been funded through bill levies, while stressing that many such costs support vulnerable consumers and fund upgrades needed to bring bills down in the longer term.
The prospect of further support comes as Burnham faces scrutiny over how his flagship pledge to remove VAT from electricity bills will be funded, with critics branding the policy 'unfunded'. Ahead of the Budget on 28 October, the Prime Minister has already signalled that voters should expect a difficult fiscal picture, saying this week he 'won't be unrealistic' about the state of the public finances and declining to rule out further tax rises. The combination of a looming bills increase, uncertainty over the VAT cut's funding, and now the suggestion that extra help may be reserved for vulnerable households rather than all bill-payers, leaves open questions about how much relief the wider public can expect this winter.
Where outlets differ
Source 1 (Mail Online-style report) places heavier emphasis on the political pressure facing Burnham over funding the VAT cut, framing it prominently in its opening and linking it explicitly to Budget uncertainty and possible further tax rises.
Source 2 (The Independent) leads more with the substance of the support package and standing-charge review itself, giving more space to Fahnbulleh's remarks on removing policy costs from bills, including the scrapped energy efficiency levy.
Source 1 attributes the wholesale price rises specifically to the 'Iran war', while Source 2 describes the driver more broadly as 'the conflict in the Middle East'.
Source 2 additionally notes the price cap announcement applies across England, Scotland and Wales, a detail not specified in Source 1.
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