Sunak’s £15bn plan to offset rising bills

MILLIONS of households will receive a £400 discount off their energy bills and a £5 billion tax will be levied on oil and gas giants as Rishi Sunak moved to counter the soaring cost of living.

The chancellor was forced to unveil emergency measures as part of a £15bn package to tackle the impact of soaring inflation, which has reached a 40-year high.

As well as the universal payment there was targeted support for the poorest, the elderly and the disabled.

The chancellor acknowledged that high inflation was causing “acute distress” for people in the country, telling MPs: “I know they are worried, I know people are struggling.”

The £6bn announcement of £400 in universal support from October replaces the initial plan for a £200 loan, with Mr Sunak scrapping the requirement to repay the money. Other measures included:

A one-off £650 payment to more than eight million low-income households on benefits, paid in two instalments in July and the autumn at a cost of £5.4bn.

A £300 payment to pensioner households in November/December alongside the winter fuel payment, costing £2.5bn.

£150 to individuals receiving disability benefits, worth a total of £0.9bn, paid by September.

The plans will be funded by around £10bn of extra borrowing.

The package would mean that almost all of the eight million most vulnerable households would receive at least £1,200 of support, including a £150 council tax rebate which has already been announced.

A further £500 million will be allocated to the fund administered by councils to help households facing extra hardship.

The chancellor stressed the need to keep the public finances under control and set out how a tax on oil and gas firms would raise around £5bn to help meet the cost.

Rishi Sunak has unveiled a series of measures to help millions of households cope with soaring energy costs.