Budget: Healey scraps gas standing charges, saving most households £45 a year
The chancellor's first Budget promises to move 'money and power out of Westminster'. Most households will save around £45 a year on gas, but heavy users could end up paying more.
Chancellor John Healey. · Photograph: Chris McAndrew (CC BY 3.0)
Chancellor John Healey is delivering his first Budget today, and the first big announcement is already out: standing charges on household gas bills are to be scrapped.
The move, due to take effect next year or as soon as possible, will save about 60% of households an average of £45 a year, according to the Treasury.
But there is a catch. The cost of the standing charge will not disappear. Instead, it will be added to the unit price of gas, meaning households that use the most gas could end up paying more than they do now. The BBC's economics editor says there will be winners and losers.
Burnham's first Budget
This is the first Budget of Andy Burnham's premiership. Last week, the Prime Minister asked Mr Healey and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh to look at removing standing charges from gas bills, after approving the Jackdaw gas field off Aberdeen.
The government has promised a plan that moves money and power out of Westminster. But ministers are under pressure on the cost of living and government borrowing, and opposition parties have criticised what they see as the limited scale and ambition of the plans.
Before the statement, the Prime Minister and Chancellor spoke with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, with defence spending expected to loom large over the Budget.
Rosebank question
In the Commons before the Budget, Reform MP Danny Kruger asked the Prime Minister whether the Budget's calculations assumed approval of the Rosebank oil field west of Shetland. Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh has insisted the Rosebank decision is hers alone and will be made on legal grounds.
What it means for Scotland
Many Budget measures, including income tax rates and many public services, are devolved in Scotland. But decisions on energy bills, benefits, defence and overall spending will have a direct effect north of the border, as will any change to the funding the Scottish Government receives through the Barnett formula.
The Daily Scot will update this story as the Chancellor's statement continues and the full details are published.