HEALEY PROMISES ENERGY BILL CUTS IN FIRST BUDGET

Chancellor John Healey has promised action to lower energy bills “for good” in his first Budget on Wednesday. He is expected to freeze fuel duty and set out measures intended to reduce household energy costs. In a video message before the statement, Healey said the Budget would give households “breathing space from some of the everyday costs”. He also promised targeted support for businesses and self-employed people. Healey said he would make the changes “responsibly” within Labour’s fiscal rules.

The expected fuel duty decision would cancel a planned increase in January and keep the rate at 52p per litre for a 16th year. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has asked Healey and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh to examine removing standing charges from gas bills. Proposals under consideration also include moving green levies from energy bills to general taxation and separating gas and electricity prices. Projections cited for the gas bill proposals put potential household savings at up to £50 a year.

Healey said conflicts abroad were pushing up energy prices and adding to pressure on families, businesses and public finances. He described the economy as resilient, citing rising investment and productivity and what he called joint fastest growth in the G7 during the first half of the year. Healey is retaining fiscal rules set by his predecessor, Rachel Reeves. Those rules require taxes to cover day-to-day spending by 2029/30 and public debt to fall as a share of the economy in the same year.