Workers on average salaries will “feel the pinch” when the energy price cap soars by nearly £700 from April, the chancellor has said.
Rishi Sunak’s warning comes after the regulator Ofgem revealed that households will have to pay up to £1,971 a year for their annual energy supply, due to a jump in global gas prices.
“The price rise is so significant that it’s not just those families who are on benefits that are going to feel the pinch, it’s actually middle income families as well,” he said.
The government has sought to ease the cost-of-living crisis by offering most households £350 in support. However, critics have claimed this will do little to help those most affected.
The Resolution Foundation think tank has predicted that 5 million households will be under “fuel stress”, twice the current number.
“For [the] poorest, it would have been better just to raise benefits in line with inflation,” said Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). The organisation has said that an adult on £30,000 a year will be £400 poorer over the next financial year.
