Targeted support for the poorest households who rely on heating oil is coming, we understand, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves set to make an announcement as soon as Monday.
It follows calls from rural Labour MPs who have warned of constituents living in fuel poverty, unable to heat their homes, restock their supply, or afford the soaring price.
“It might be a small proportion for the country overall, but where there are big clusters of people using heating oil, this is a big issue,” Labour MP Terry Jermy told Sky News.
The South West Norfolk MP said he has spent the week warning ministers: “I’ve got people literally turning off their heating because their tank has run empty.
“If we’re not careful and if we don’t act, this could be a public health issue. We’ve got elderly, vulnerable people literally not able to put their heating on, in some cases not able to cook their food. The government doesn’t have a choice, we’ve got to act.”
Beyond help for oil customers, Rachel Reeves is holding off on anything else for now.
Along with officials, she hopes time will ease the conflict in the Gulf and, with that, the impact on costs here. It’s a defiant stance, and a gamble she hopes will pay off.
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Opposition parties continue to pile on the pressure over what comes after the current price cap on energy bills ends in June and fuel duty goes up in September. Politically for Labour, it’s terrible timing.
Ministers felt their ‘£150 off energy bills’ was a tangible example of efforts to ease the cost of living and put more money in people’s pockets. From April, typical gas and electricity bills will see a cut as a result of changes announced by the chancellor in last November’s budget.
By scrapping some green levies and shifting others onto general taxation, Labour says this will see the typical bill fall by about £150. Ofgem says this will be more like £117, as the cost of running and maintaining the network has increased.
But Reeves is nevertheless committed to fiscal discipline, determined not to resort to an eye-wateringly expensive package of universal support like we saw in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. A package she doesn’t criticise, in an interview with The Times, but makes clear it’s one we are still paying for.
In that same interview, she highlights that the government now has the benefit of better data. So any more financial support could be means-tested if it’s needed in the future.
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It’s a big ‘if’, but a potentially very expensive one, even if the support is more targeted.
Labour has to spend the coming weeks weighing up its options.
Not just the financial cost, but the political too. For a government that made its priorities economic growth and higher living standards, it faces an unforgiving electorate if at the next election there’s no sign of either – even if it’s down to events beyond its control.
