Energy price cap falls today but £600 lift to annual bills ahead, report warns
As the latest reduction in the energy price cap takes effect, households are being warned of a big lift in bills ahead due to higher wholesale gas prices.
The cap, which limits what suppliers can charge per unit of energy, fell by 7% overnight in the wake of the latest three-month review by industry regulator Ofgem.
The reduction meant that typical 12-month bills will be around £500 cheaper than a year ago.
It left the average bill at £1,568 – a figure that will apply until the result of the next review takes effect in October.
However, a report by the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said on Monday that consumers should brace for an additional hit of up to £600 over the coming winter, largely due to higher wholesale prices.
It pointed to a possible £200 price cap hike from October on the back of some analyst calculations, suggesting it was plausible the total could remain around that level until June.
One calculation, by experts at Cornwall Insight and released on Friday, predicted a 10% – or £155 – increase from 1 October to £1,723 a year but said there remained uncertainty on the market path ahead.
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Party energy plans compared
Consumer groups say there is an alternative to the price cap, pointing to a growing number of fixed-rate deals on the market following a dearth of competition in recent years.
European wholesale costs are again elevated for the time of year based on pre-energy shock norms.
Recent pressures have included strong competition from Asia, particularly China, for liquefied natural gas (LNG).
That has replaced some of the Russian natural gas volumes that were stripped away in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A planned extension of the European Union’s sanctions regime against Russia will see its LNG exports targeted for the first time – potentially placing further pressure on supply across the continent.
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UK household costs for both gas and electricity stood at an average of just below £1,090 ahead of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The ECIU report said: “By September 2025, the average household could have paid an extra £2,600 on energy bills during the ongoing gas crisis.
“With the government also spending £1,400 per home earlier in the crisis, the total extra costs could be £4,000 per home, and counting.”
Energy has been among the big battlegrounds of the election.
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The price of going green? Unions say it’s workers’ jobs
Much of the debate has centred on costs but the impact of gas use in particular has fuelled argument too on the UK’s climate commitments.
Dr Simon Cran-McGreehin, head of analysis at ECIU, said: “The UK’s high dependence on gas for electricity generation and heating has cost bill payers £2,000 so far during the gas crisis and the economy as a whole tens of billions of pounds.
“Common sense measures like investing in insulating the poorest homes, switching to electric heat pumps and fast-tracking British renewables will leave us less vulnerable to the whims of the international gas markets.
“North Sea gas output is declining so unless we make the switch we’ll be ever more dependent on foreign imports.
“The maths is clear, when it comes to energy independence, new drilling licences are a side show making a marginal difference compared to the immense quantity of homegrown energy that offshore wind and other renewables can generate.”
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Emily Seymour, the editor of Which? Energy, said: “Consumers will be relieved to hear that the price cap is dropping by around £122 for the typical household from 1st July.”
She added: “With the price cap predicted to rise again in October, many consumers will also be wondering whether to fix their energy deal.
“There’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach but the first step is to compare your monthly payments on the price cap to any fixed deals to see what the best option is for you.
“As a rule of thumb, if you want to fix, we’d recommend looking for deals as close to the July price cap as possible, not longer than 12 months and without significant exit fees.”
UK
Pictured: Boy killed in Gateshead industrial estate fire – 14 children arrested on suspicion of manslaughter
Tributes have been paid to 14-year-old Layton Carr who died in a fire at an industrial estate.
Eleven boys and three girls, aged between 11 and 14 years, have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after the incident in Gateshead on Friday. They remain in police custody.
Police were alerted to a fire at Fairfield industrial park in the Bill Quay area
Firefighters raced to Fairfield industrial park in the Bill Quay area shortly after 8pm, putting out the blaze a short time later.
Police then issued an appeal for a missing boy, Layton Carr, who was believed to be in the area at the time.
In a statement, the force said that “sadly, following searches, a body believed to be that of 14-year-old Layton Carr was located deceased inside the building”.
Layton’s next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers, police added.
Layton has been described as a ‘beautiful soul’
A fundraising page on GoFundMe has been set up to help Layton’s mother pay for funeral costs.
Organiser Stephanie Simpson said: “The last thing Georgia needs to stress trying to pay for a funeral for her Boy Any donations will help thank you.”
One tribute in a Facebook post read: “Can’t believe I’m writing this my nephew RIP Layton 💔 forever 14 you’ll be a massive miss, thinking of my sister and 2 beautiful nieces right now.”
Another added: “My boy ❤️ my baby cousin, my Layton. Nothing will ever come close to the pain I feel right now. Forever 14. I’ll miss you sausage.”
A third said: “Rest in peace big lad such a beautiful soul taken far to soon my thoughts are with you Gee stay strong girl hear for u always.”
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Detective Chief Inspector Louise Jenkins, of Northumbria Police, also said: “This is an extremely tragic incident where a boy has sadly lost his life.”
She added that the force’s “thoughts are with Layton’s family as they begin to attempt to process the loss of their loved one”.
They are working to establish “the full circumstances surrounding the incident” and officers will be in the area to “offer reassurance to the public”, she added.
A cordon remains in place at the site while police carry out enquiries.
Sky News can reveal that the government has rowed back on a national compensation scheme for victims of child sexual abuse, despite it being promised under the previous Conservative administration.
Warning – this story contains references to sexual and physical abuse
A National Redress Scheme was one of 20 key recommendations made by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), but a Home Office report reveals the government has scrapped it because of the cost.
Marie, who is 71, suffered alleged sexual, physical, and emotional abuse at Greenfield House Convent in St Helens, Merseyside, between 1959 and 1962, and is still fighting for compensation.
Greenfield House Convent, where Marie says she was abused
As soon as she arrived as a six-year-old, Marie says her hair was cut off, her name changed, and she experienced regular beatings from the nuns and students.
She claims a nun instigated the violence, including when Marie was held down so that her legs were “spread-eagled” as she was sexually abused with a coat hanger.
Merseyside Police investigated claims of abuse at the convent, but in 2016, a suspect died before charges could be brought.
Marie has received an apology from the Catholic body that ran the home; she tried to sue them, but her claim was rejected because it was filed too long after the alleged abuse.
Marie, 71, is still fighting for compensation for the abuse she says she suffered as a child
In February, ministers said the law would change for victims of sexual abuse trying to sue institutions for damages, which was a recommendation from the IICSA.
Previously, people had to make a civil claim before they were 21, unless the victim could prove a fair trial could proceed despite the time lapse.
Campaigners argued for the time limit to be removed as, on average, victims wait 26 years to come forward. Changes to the 1980 Limitation Act could lead to more people making claims.
Peter Garsden, President of The Association of Child Abuse Lawyers
Civil cases ‘can take three to five years’
But Peter Garsden, president of the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers, worries that when it comes to historical abuse where the defendant is dead, institutions will still argue that it is impossible to have a fair trial and will fight to have the case thrown out of court.
Mr Garsden said it takes “between three and five years” for a civil case to get to trial.
He warned that claimants “can end up losing if you go through that process. Whereas the Redress Scheme would be quicker, much more straightforward, and much more likely to give justice to the victims”.
Victim awarded £10 compensation
Jimbo, who was a victim of abuse at St Aidan’s children’s home in Cheshire, took his case to the High Court twice and the Court of Appeal three times, but, after 13 years, all he ended up with was £10 for his bus fare to court.
Despite the Lord Justice of Appeal saying he believed that the abuse had occurred, Jimbo lost his claim because of the time limit for child sexual abuse claims to be made.
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Neither Marie nor Jimbo is likely to benefit from the removal of the time limit for personal injury claims, which is why Mr Garsden is calling on the government to implement a National Redress Scheme for victims of sexual abuse, as recommended by the IICSA.
Hundreds of millions paid to victims
The governments in Scotland and Northern Ireland have set up compensation schemes and paid hundreds of millions of pounds to victims.
In 2023, the then Conservative government said a similar scheme would be organised for England and Wales.
But the Home Office admitted in its Tackling Child Sexual Abuse: Progress Update that it “is not currently taking forward any further steps on the IICSA proposal for a separate, national financial redress scheme for all survivors of child sexual abuse”.
“In the current fiscal environment, this recommendation is very difficult to take forward,” it added.
For victims, the scheme was the last chance of compensation for a lifetime blighted by abuse.
“The money is about justice and about all the other people who have had to suffer this abuse,” Marie said.
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