Energy bills will be frozen at an average of £2500 for two years in the run-up to the next general election as Lanarkshire families battle the cost of living crisis.
New Tory Prime Minister Liz Truss was forced to act on the fuel crisis and yesterday announced plans in the Commons to limit gas and electricity bill rises in a scheme that will impose a two-year cap on the unit price of power.
The plan, which comes into force on October 1, will save the typical household £1000 a year, according to the government with the Truss government spending billions to protect people from soaring prices.
Truss told the Commons: “A typical household will pay no more than £2500 per year for each of the next two years, while we get the energy market back on track.
"This will save a typical household £1000 pounds a year. It comes in addition to the £400 pounds energy bill Support Scheme. This guarantee supersedes the OFGEM price cap and has been agreed with energy retailers.”
But opposition MSPs in South Lanarkshire say the energy plan doesn't go far enough to ensure hard-up families won't have to make a choice between heating and eating this winter.
East Kilbride MSP Collette Stevenson accused the UK Government of being "asleep at the wheel" over the "Tory-made cost of living crisis".
She said: "While I welcome the belated announcement, this still represents an increase in bills for people – with the average bill already sky high at around £2000.
"People are seeing soaring energy costs because of a broken energy market and the utter incompetence of the UK Government.
"Above all, the costs of what has been announced today are going to fall on consumers and taxpayers, while the oil and gas companies will continue to make windfall profits.
"It’s clear whose side the Tories are on."
Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, stressed that the energy freeze "does not represent a halt to the soaring increases to energy bills", adding that people are still being expected to pay even more on their energy bills.
She said: "Average household energy bills right now are £1971, which in itself is in increase of around £1200 in Spring, and under Truss’ plans bills will rise even further to an average of £2500 in October.
"Liz Truss had a choice to make: these proposals could have been paid for by a windfall tax on energy companies who are making eye-watering profits or the public.
"Staggeringly, the Tory Prime Minister chose the latter."
MP for East Kilbride, Dr Lisa Cameron, said the news would be "welcome relief" to many hardworking families and small businesses, but raised concerns about those most vulnerable.
She said: "I am particularly concerned about those most vulnerable including many pensioners who may need additional help and for whom £2500 still causes financial difficulty, so I have requested a meeting with the new Prime Minister appointed to address these matters with priority.”
The £2500 price cap is in addtion to the £400 per household already announced for each household.
It could be topped with a cut in VAT on fuel bills in an emergency budget due later this month.
The average household’s annual gas and electricity bill was due to rise from £1971 to £3549 in October.
But even with the dramatic intervention in the energy market there are warnings that millions will be left in fuel poverty this winter.
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