How much will my bills increase now the energy price cap comes into effect

Published

2 years ago

October 1, 2022

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Gas and electricity bills are going up as the new energy price cap takes effect.

You may have read that from 1 October the price cap will mean average energy bills will increase by 27% from £1,971 a year to £2,500.

But it isn’t as simple as that.

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What is happening?

The price of gas and electricity is determined by global wholesale prices, which shot up after supplies from Russia were cut as a response to the war in Ukraine – and after energy consumption increased again after COVID.

How much these wholesale energy prices are passed on to customers is controlled by the UK regulator Ofgem in the form of a price cap four times a year.

This price cap limits the cost households pay per unit of energy (kilowatt hours) they use.

Average annual bills had been touted to go up to £3,549 in line with wholesale prices, but Prime Minister Liz Truss’s “energy price guarantee” has reduced the original price cap announced on 26 August.

It means that from 1 October, instead of paying a maximum of 28p per kWh for electricity – people will now pay 34p.

And instead of paying a maximum of 7p per kWh for gas – they will now pay 10.3p.

Standing charges, which are the cost of connecting to the National Grid, are also going up with the price cap, but not by very much.

From now they will increase from 45p a day to 46p a day for electricity and 27p to 28p for gas.

Does the price cap cover everyone?

The price cap only covers domestic households in England, Wales and Scotland. The same level of support will be applied to the market in Northern Ireland.

Traditionally businesses are not covered by the price cap, but as part of a separate “energy bill relief” scheme, the government is providing additional support for firms.

You will be included in the price cap if you are a dual-fuel customer (use the same company for electricity and gas) on a standard variable tariff, who pays by direct debit, credit, or prepaid meter.

Standard variable tariffs mean your energy company can change the price per unit at any time – in line with global wholesale prices – but is limited by the price cap.

Fixed tariffs are agreed upon annually and mean the price per unit will not change for that year.

These are not included in the price cap, but the government says its energy price guarantee will mean a discount of 17p per kWh for electricity and 4.2p per kWh for gas.

They say this will bring fixed rates down to similar levels as the energy price cap.

If you are locked into an expensive fixed tariff, you can take a meter reading before 1 October to ensure your energy company honours the price guarantee discount.

Price cap does not mean energy only costs £2,500 a year

The government estimates that the new price cap will result in average annual energy bills increasing from £1,971 to £2,500.

But that does not mean people won’t be charged more than £2,500 a year for their energy – it is just an estimate for a typical household.

According to Ofgem, a typical household in Britain has 2.4 people living in it – who use 242 kWh of electricity and 1,000 kWh of gas a month.

But all households are different – and their energy usage will depend on how many people live there, what time of day they use the most energy, and how energy efficient their home is.

For example, the government estimates that if you live in a purpose-built flat your average bill will be £1,750.

If you live in a mid-terraced house it will be around £2,350.

Those who live in semi-detached houses will pay around £2,650 a year.

And detached properties will pay roughly £3,300 annually.

What extra help is the government offering?

Before Liz Truss was appointed prime minister, former Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced all households would receive a £400 discount on their energy bills between October 2022 and March 2023.

From 1 October people will start to receive a £66 discount for October, another for November, and £67 for December, January, February and March.

Some energy companies are directly applying these to bills, while others will credit the amount to customers’ bank accounts.

Eight million households in receipt of certain benefits will also get £650 to help with their bills.

Pensioners will receive £300 and some people on special disability benefits will get £150.

People on low incomes and pensioners on pension guarantee credit will get £140 off through the Warm Home Discount.

Vulnerable families can also apply for extra help via their local council and their Household Support Fund.

What about businesses?

The government’s energy bill relief scheme for England, Scotland and Wales will mean help with firms’ energy bills for six months from 1 October. A parallel scheme is operating in Northern Ireland.

Wholesale prices businesses pay for electricity will be capped at 21.1p per kWh for electricity and 7.5p per kWh for gas.

This will be applied automatically to companies using variable tariffs.

For those on fixed price contracts, the same discounts will be applied if the agreement started after 1 April 2022.

The savings will appear on bills in November and will be backdated to October.

A review will be published at the end of the year which will help identify “vulnerable” businesses that need support beyond March 2023.

UK

Natalie Elphicke: Who is the Tory MP who defected to Labour at PMQs?

Published

2 hours ago

May 8, 2024

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Natalie Elphicke: Who is the Tory MP who defected to Labour at PMQs?

It has been fewer than two years since Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves told Tory MP Natalie Elphicke to “f*** off” for criticising Marcus Rashford at the Euros. Now they are colleagues.

Ms Elphicke crossed the floor of the House of Commons to join Labour ahead of Prime Minister’s Questions, causing a stir on both sides of the House.

The Dover MP has long been critical of the Labour Party – especially on immigration – but she now says the party has “changed out of all recognition” and is trying to create “a Britain everyone can be a part of”.

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Ms Elphicke added that the Conservatives “ousted” Boris Johnson in a “coup led by the unelected Rishi Sunak” – with the party now a “byword for incompetence and division”.

So who is Natalie Elphicke, what are her policies, and why did she defect?

Who is Natalie Elphicke?

Professionally a solicitor, Ms Elphicke was long involved in Conservative Party politics, working with thinktanks and on policy goals.

She was not selected to contest a parliamentary seat until 2019 – despite trying before – although the opportunity emerged from scandal.

Her now ex-husband, Charlie Elphicke, had been the Conservative MP for Dover, but he was arrested, charged and eventually convicted of three counts of sexual assault in 2020.

The court heard he had chased one woman around his house while chanting “I’m a naughty Tory”.

Ms Elphicke contested the Dover seat in 2019 for the Conservatives after her husband’s arrest, and almost doubled the majority to 12,278.

She will not be standing at the next general election, and campaigned for Liz Truss to become prime minister in 2022.

What are her policies?

Ms Elphicke has been outspoken on migration, especially as the MP for Dover.

It was alongside Ms Elphicke that Rishi Sunak announced his plan to stop small boats crossing the English Channel was working in Dover last year.

In the minutes after her defection, Conservative MPs began sharing previous statements from Ms Elphicke.

For example, in April 2023, Ms Elphicke wrote in the Daily Express that Labour’s attempts to stop the Rwanda deportation scheme was “dangerous” – and that Sir Keir Starmer wanted to create “loopholes” in the system.

And Tory MPs also shared a social media post from late 2022 in which Ms Elphicke claimed: “A reminder that Labour back fewer and weaker border controls when it comes to illegal arrivals on our shores.”

In the wake of England’s loss in the Euro 2020 final – held in 2021 due to COVID – Ms Elphicke sent a private message which said: “They lost – would it be ungenerous to suggest Rashford should have spent more time perfecting his game and less time playing politics.”

She later apologised, although when asked about the comments, Ms Reeves said in late 2022 that Ms Elphicke should “f*** off”.

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Why did she defect?

In a statement shared by the Labour Party, Ms Elphicke mentioned Mr Sunak “failing” on keeping “our borders safe and secure”.

She added: “Meanwhile Labour plan to build the homes we need, help young people onto the housing ladder and care about the vulnerable and homeless. That’s why I’m honoured to have been asked to work with Keir and the team to help deliver the homes we need.

“We need to move on from the broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic government. Britain needs a government that will build a future of hope, optimism, opportunity and fairness.

“A Britain everyone can be part of, that will make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead. That’s why it’s time for change. Time for a Labour government led by Keir Starmer.

“The general election cannot come soon enough.”

UK

Sky Sports to show all English Football League opening weekend matches for first time

Published

2 hours ago

May 8, 2024

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Sky Sports to show all English Football League opening weekend matches for first time

Every match from the opening round of the three English Football League (EFL) divisions will be streamed live in a broadcasting first.

The airing of all 36 fixtures on the weekend of 10 and 11 August will be on a new Sky Sports + service from the parent company of Sky News.

It marks the start of a new five-year broadcasting rights deal between Sky and the EFL, covering the professional leagues below the Premier League.

Sky Sports managing director Jonathan Licht said: “For the first time, we will broadcast every game live from across the EFL on the opening weekend.

“It’s going to be a huge moment for football fans up and down the country and is a fitting way to kick off our ground-breaking new partnership with the EFL.”

Matches that kick-off at 3pm on Saturdays cannot usually be broadcast live to UK audiences due to a long-running blackout rule.

Also known as Article 48, it is a blacked-out period between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on Saturday afternoons when live football can’t be shown, meaning on most weekends the main broadcast fixtures are done around this time period.

But for the opening weekend, the blackout would not be in place, with the Premier League starting a week later.

Sky Sports + is a new TV channel launching in August along with live streams.

It will bring four times as many matches from the EFL with all 72 teams featured more than 20 times in a season.

Alongside football, it will bring increased coverage from golf and tennis as well.

The ATP and WTA Tours, US Open tennis as well as PGA Tour golf will all be more readily available to viewers.

The service will also offer more sports documentaries and can concurrently stream more than 100 sporting events.

UK

TSB to shut 36 branches and cut hundreds of jobs as full list of closures announced

Published

2 hours ago

May 8, 2024

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TSB to shut 36 branches and cut hundreds of jobs as full list of closures announced

High street bank TSB has announced 250 job losses and the closure of 36 branches.

The job cuts will be in the fraud operations department of the bank, central operations and staff who work at the branches earmarked for closure.

Trade union Unite said the decision was a “grave mistake” and customers would “undoubtedly suffer a downgrade in service from these job cuts”.

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The latest round of branch closures will start in September, and continue through to May next year.

TSB will have 175 branches across the UK after the latest round of closures. Ten branches have already been closed over the last year.

The branches to be closed in September are in:
Alloa
Bedworth
Birmingham, Pype Hayes
Bridlington
Buxton
Carmarthen
Cwmbran
Dovercourt
Edinburgh, Leith
Felixstowe
Frome
Glasgow, Cardonald
Glasgow, Castlemilk
Haddington
Hounslow
Lerwick
Leven
London, Bethnal Green
London, Clapham
Longton
Manchester, Middleton
Newcastle upon Tyne
Peterhead
Sheerness
Stornoway
Torquay
Whitehaven

The branches due to be closed in May 2025 are in:
Amble
Aylsham
Banff
Bedlington
Bude
Crook
Flint
Tenbury Wells
Whitchurch

The closures come as the lender said most account holders do their banking online and there is a need to “better balance” staff in face-to-face and digital roles.

A TSB spokesperson said it is making the changes “to remain competitive” and “to simplify the way we operate”.

“Our priority is to consult with impacted colleagues to ensure they’re fully supported, maximising redeployment opportunities where we can,” the spokesperson added.

“We remain committed to a national branch network and through innovation and integration with video, telephone, digital, branch and other face-to-face services TSB customers have more ways to bank with us than ever before.”

The workers who are due to lose their jobs “perform essential work in the fraud departments and across the branch network”, Unite regional officer Andy Case said.

“Through extensive negotiations Unite has been able to substantially reduce the number of jobs at risk. However, that isn’t sufficient, the union is pressing TSB to urgently reconsider its damaging bank branch closures plan.

“At a time when customers are increasingly concerned about financial fraud and often need support from a local bank branch this is the wrong course of action.”

The union said it is holding fresh talks with TSB in an attempt to prevent further job cuts.

Cuts were anticipated after the boss of TSB’s Spanish parent firm Sabadell told reporters in February that cost-saving plans would result in job losses and branch closures.