Energy price cap falls – but Ofgem boss says it would be ‘helpful’ if govt brings back support for families

Published

2 years ago

August 25, 2023

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The energy price cap is going to fall in October – but the boss of Ofgem has warned families are “absolutely going to struggle” with their bills this winter.

A typical household paying by direct debit for gas and electricity will face an annual charge of £1,923 from October to December, a fall of about £150.

Despite that, millions of households could end up paying more because government support with bills – worth £66 a month – has now been withdrawn.

Speaking to Sky News, Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley said it would be “helpful” if these subsidies were reintroduced by the government.

And he stressed that the regulator, the government and suppliers must work together to give vulnerable customers the support they need.

Downing Street has faced growing calls to explore alternatives to the price cap, such as a social tariff that would give cheaper gas and electricity to those in need.

Andrew Bowie, parliamentary undersecretary of state for nuclear and networks, told Sky News that the government “will consider any and all options moving forward”.

When asked whether the price cap will be looked at again, Mr Bowie said: “Over the period of its existence, the price cap has yielded hugely positive results for the British people.

“However, it is right that when times change, circumstances are looked at again, which is why we have a call for evidence open right now, which is why we’re reviewing how the energy market works in this country as a whole.

“We are determined to get it right moving forward.”

Citizens Advice has warned this winter could be “as bad, if not worse” than the last – and a record number of people are already behind on their energy costs.

Calling for the government to step in quickly with targeted support, it said: “The next few months will push households like these over the edge.”

Experts have warned that bills could head back above the £2,000 mark early next year.

Analysis: Poorest could end up paying more

It is better off customers that stand to benefit, while poorer households could end up paying more.

A lower price cap is a move in the right direction – but the extra cash will quickly be absorbed by higher housing and grocery bills

Monthly mortgage payments have spiked as interest rates continue to climb, and food prices are rising at an annual rate of 14.9%.

The new level is also much higher than it was in October 2021, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine precipitated a global energy crisis.

Back then, the price cap came in at £1,277.

Read Gurpreet’s full analysis here.

Price cap changes announced

The price a supplier can charge for gas is falling from 6.9p to 6.89p per kilowatt hour (kWh) – with the cost of electricity dropping from 30.1p per kWh to 27.35p.

Weaker wholesale prices have led to this reduction – and Ofgem says the market is stabilising, with suppliers returning to a healthier financial position.

The price cap would have been lower still, by a further £100, if it had reflected a looming Ofgem calculation that gives a nod to reduced energy use.

The regulator has also unveiled measures to reduce costs for prepayment meter customers – alongside extra support for those at risk of disconnection from the network.

But there has also been a small increase to the earnings that energy firms can make per household – an extra £10 a year – most of which is ringfenced in the event of a supplier failure.

Ofgem says that, at the peak of the energy crisis, 30 suppliers went bust because they didn’t have enough capital in reserve to stay in business – adding £83 to the bills of all customers.

An ‘encouraging’ fall

Household consumption has fallen sharply following the bill shocks of the past 18 months.

Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps described October’s fall in the price cap as “encouraging” – and claimed it was another milestone in the government’s promise to halve inflation.

“We are successfully driving Putin out of global energy markets so he can never again hold us to ransom, and we are boosting our energy independence to deliver cheaper, cleaner and more secure energy to British homes,” he added.

But Labour’s shadow energy and net zero secretary, Ed Miliband, claimed the latest price cap announcement “demonstrates the scandalous Tory cost of living crisis is still raging for millions of people”.

He claimed the government was siding with oil and gas companies making record profits, adding: “Higher energy bills are unfortunately here to stay under the Conservatives, even with this fall, bills are significantly higher than they were only three years ago.”

The next price cap announcement – covering January to March 2024 – will be made in three months’ time.

‘Millions’ will pay more

A thinktank has declared millions of the poorest households will pay more despite the price cap cut.

The Resolution Foundation blamed the withdrawal of energy support schemes and a rise in charges added to bills.

The price cap – which applies to England, Wales and Scotland – sets a limit on the amount suppliers can charge for each unit of gas and electricity used and for the privilege of being connected to the energy network. The more you use, the more you pay.

Even at the reduced cap mark, it remains about £800 above 2019 levels at a time when families are dealing with high inflation and higher housing costs – mostly as a consequence of interest rate rises by the Bank of England intended to dull the pace of price rises in the economy.

Ofgem has said it now expects suppliers to continue improving service and support their most vulnerable customers.

David Cheadle, chief operating officer at the Money Advice Trust, said it is an “extremely worrying time” for households struggling to keep up with their bills – and many consumers will face “impossible choices without further support”.

UK

Starmer’s plan to recognise Palestinian state labelled ‘appeasement towards jihadist terrorists’ by Netanyahu

Published

6 hours ago

July 30, 2025

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Starmer's plan to recognise Palestinian state labelled 'appeasement towards jihadist terrorists' by Netanyahu

Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to recognise Palestine as a state has been attacked as “appeasement towards jihadist terrorists” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The prime minister said the UK will recognise a Palestinian state by September unless Israel takes “substantive steps” to end the situation in Gaza, Israel agrees to a ceasefire, commits to a long-term sustainable peace, allows the UN to restart aid supplies and does not annexe the West Bank.

About 250 MPs from all parties – half of them Labour – had signed a letter last week calling for Sir Keir to immediately recognise a Palestinian state.

Politics latest: PM’s Palestine plan labelled ‘absurd’

Sir Keir said that by giving Israel a deadline of 9 September UN meeting, he hoped this would play a part “in changing the conditions on the ground, and making sure aid gets into making sure that there is hope of a two-state solution for the future”.

But Mr Netanyahu condemned the plan, saying Sir Keir “rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism and punishes its victims”.

“A jihadist state on Israel’s border today will threaten Britain tomorrow,” he wrote on X.

“Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen.”

The Israelis also accused Sir Keir of pandering to his MPs and France, after Emmanuel Macron committed to recognising a Palestinian state last week, and harming efforts to release Israeli hostages.

Lib Dems and Greens: ‘Bargaining chip’

Sir Keir also faced accusations of using Palestinian state recognition as a “bargaining chip” by both the Lib Dems and the Green Party.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said a Palestinian state should have been recognised “months ago” and “far greater action” is needed to stop the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

Green Party foreign affairs spokesperson Ellie Chowns, who wants immediate state recognition, said it was a “cynical political gesture”.

Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s former SNP first minister, who revealed a family member was killed in Gaza days ago, told Sky News statehood “shouldn’t be dependent” upon the conditions Sir Keir has set for Israel, but is the “inalienable right” of the Palestinian people.

The British Palestinian Committee, representing Palestinian interests in the UK, described conditions as “absurd and performative”.

UK Jewish groups seek clarity

The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the UK’s largest Jewish organisation, said it was “seeking urgent clarification” that the UK will not recognise Palestine as a state if Israeli hostages remain in Hamas captivity, or if Hamas keeps rejecting a ceasefire deal.

The Labour Friends of Israel group said it has “shared goals” with the government but state recognition “will be a merely symbolic act unless the UK uses its influence to establish the principles of a meaningful pathway to a Palestinian state”.

Sarah Champion, Labour MP and chair of the international development committee, who started the MP letter calling for state recognition, said she was “delighted and relieved”.

However, she added: “I’m troubled our recognition appears conditional on Israel’s actions.”

When Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced the plan at a UN meeting, he received applause.

Not many other Labour MPs commented.

Tories accuse Starmer of appeasing MPs

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Sir Keir of being more focused on a “political problem for the Labour Party” than other issues facing the UK.

“Recognising a Palestinian state won’t bring the hostages home, won’t end the war and won’t get aid into Gaza,” she posted on X.

“This is political posturing at its very worst.”

Tory shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel said the announcement was “to appease his backbenchers” as “he knows that promises to recognise Palestine will not secure lasting peace”.

Trump did not discuss statehood with Starmer

Donald Trump said he and Sir Keir “never did discuss” the PM’s plan to recognise a Palestinian state during their meetings in Scotland the day before.

However, Tammy Bruce, spokeswoman for the US state department, said Sir Keir’s plan is a “slap in the face for the victims of October 7”, which “rewards Hamas”, the Telegraph reported.

UK

Southport remembers ‘three little angels’ one years on from attack

Published

9 hours ago

July 29, 2025

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Southport remembers 'three little angels' one years on from attack

At St Marie’s Catholic Church in Southport, small photos of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar stood on the altar. Candles burned next to them.

During lunchtime mass, Father John Heneghan, who gave Alice her first communion and then conducted her funeral, spoke quietly of the “three little angels” lost a year ago.

A town and a community, in small and quiet ways, remembered a horror that still haunts them.

St Marie’s was one of the locations chosen for the people of Southport to come and reflect, pray or light a candle in memory of the awful events of 29 July last year.

Throughout the day, a handful of people have paused for a moment at community centres, libraries and churches.

The town had opted for very little outward show of commemoration.

After discussions, including with the families of the victims, they asked for people to instead donate to local causes, including the charities set up by those families themselves – Elsie’s Story, Bebe’s Hive and Alice’s WonderDance.

They requested no flowers at the scene of the attack or the schools the girls attended.

“Let us continue to honour the lives of Alice, Bebe and Elsie,” the leader and chair of Sefton Council said in a letter to the community, “not only through remembrance but by holding onto the values they embodied – joy, creativity, kindness, and love.”

At 3pm, people stopped to observe the three-minute silence in the town centre.

A few wiped away tears before spontaneous applause broke out.

In Southport’s Town Hall Gardens, which was the focal point of the public mourning a year ago, people again came to place flowers, toys and cards in memory of the victims.

Stones bearing messages of support to the families were also placed there.

“God bless to you three little angels,” read one card.

UK

Resident doctors threaten further strikes as government rules out additional pay hikes

Published

9 hours ago

July 29, 2025

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Resident doctors threaten further strikes as government rules out additional pay hikes

Resident doctors are not ruling out further strike action as their current walkout comes to an end, with some demands still unmet.

The latest strike began on Friday amid an ongoing row over pay and is expected to last until 7am on Wednesday.

Hospital leaders have urged the British Medical Association (BMA) and the government to end the strikes, which caused widespread disruptions throughout the NHS in England.

The BMA’s Resident Doctors Committee (RDC) says it is ready for further talks with the government but has yet to be contacted by Health Secretary Wes Streeting.

Dozens of resident doctors, previously called junior doctors, took part in a picket line on Tuesday at King George Hospital in Ilford, a facility serving the constituents of the health secretary.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t heard from him yet. That doesn’t mean that he’s not going to call us tomorrow – our door is always open,” said Dr Melissa Ryan, who co-chairs the committee alongside Dr Ross Nieuwoudt.

Dr Nieuwoudt said: “There does not need to be a single other day of industrial action at all.

“All Wes Streeting needs to do is come to us now and talk to us now, because that’s what doctors want and that’s what patients need.”

The union has also launched a related dispute with the government over limited training spots, as this year, over 30,000 resident doctors competed for only 10,000 specialty places.

A recent poll of 4,400 doctors found that 52% finishing their second training year lack confirmed employment for August.

Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at NHS Confederation, said: “Resident doctors have recently had a very substantial increase in their pay and the government has been pretty clear that at the moment, there isn’t more money to be negotiated.”

Dr McCay said the government “is keen” to discuss non-pay issues, such as workforce conditions.

“I think that the hope of all healthcare leaders is that the BMA will get around the table with the government and figure out a solution to this, because what absolutely nobody wants to see is any further cases of industrial action after this one.”

Streeting has said the union can’t “hold the country to ransom” following a 28.9% pay increase over the past three years, the highest in the public sector.

The BMA has said pay for resident doctors has declined by a fifth since 2008, once inflation is taken into account, despite this uplift.

Meanwhile, health workers represented by the GMB and Unite unions have also turned down a government offer, raising the likelihood of additional industrial action within the NHS.

Nurses are also expected to turn down the pay deal later this week.

The Royal College of Nursing, which represents hundreds of thousands of nurses across the NHS in England, is balloting its members on the 3.6% pay award offered for 2025/26 in England.

A recent YouGov poll found that public opinion in Britain is divided over nurses striking for better pay. Among 4,300 adults surveyed, 19% “strongly support” nurse strikes, while 28% offer some support. In contrast, 23% “strongly oppose” the strikes, and 20% “somewhat oppose” them.