Chancellor John Healey is to spend £1bn on energy bills but working households will get NOTHING

From the Newshound archive · first published 8 October 2026.

Chancellor John Healey is preparing plans to channel more than £1bn into energy bill support ahead of the October 28 budget, with the bulk of the funding directed at benefit recipients. From January 2027, following a 16% rise in the price cap, energy bills are expected to approach £2,000 a year — an increase that would push the average annual bill up by £276. Working households that earn above the benefit threshold will absorb that rise in full.

The frontrunner option is increasing the Warm Homes Discount — currently £150 — to around £250 for the millions of claimants living below the poverty line.

Healey is expected to resist Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh's push to commit billions more to stripping levies from bills altogether.