Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to announce measures to help households cut the cost of their energy bills later today (Thursday, May 26).
Mr Sunak is set to ditch the previously announced £200 loan on energy bills and replace it with a grant that will not have to be paid back, with the discount possibly increasing to as much as £400, according to reports.
Additionally, as reported by The Independent, despite initial opposition from himself and other prominent government figures Mr Sunak is set to approve a windfall tax on energy companies.
Other measures which could form part of a package worth around £10 billion are expected to be targeted at the poorest households.
The timing of the Chancellor’s announcement, the day after the publication of the embarrassing Sue Gray report on the partygate scandal, has led to claims that ministers were seeking to avoid further damaging headlines about Boris Johnson’s No 10 operation.
But the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Stephen Barclay insisted the decision to announce the package was in response to Ofgem’s indication that the energy price cap would rise by more than £800 in October.
He told Sky News: “In terms of the timing, firstly we don’t control the timing of the Sue Gray report. The timing of that is shaped by the Met Police investigation.
“What we’ve always said is, in terms of the fiscal response, we wanted to see from the Ofgem guidance what the full impact would be in the autumn on families so that we can get the design of that package right.
“We’ve had that guidance this week from Ofgem. That is why the Chancellor is coming forward today.”
What time is Rishi Sunak's announcement today?
Mr Sunak is expected to make his announcement at 11.30am today.
A live stream of the announcement will be able to be found on the online pages of sites like BBC News and Sky News.
