The Government has announced decisive and unprecedented support with energy bills. Under the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), the typical household will pay no more than £2,500 on their energy bill until April 2023. Thereafter, the price cap will rise so that the typical household will pay no more than £3,000 until April 2024.
The EPG will save the average household a further £500 and mean they will not have to face energy bills of £6,000 this winter and next. Households also benefitted from the £400 Energy Bill Rebate earlier in 2022.
Children and young adults with a long-term health condition or disability can be entitled to up to £156.90 a week, tax-free, as a contribution to the wide range of extra costs they face through either Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
These benefits are not means-tested, are paid in addition to other social security benefits, and can also provide a passport to additional support such as premiums and additional amounts in the means-tested benefits.
An informal carer, such as a parent or guardian, providing 35 hours or more care a week to a child or adult in receipt of the middle or highest rate care component of DLA or the daily living component of PIP can also be entitled to financial support through Carer’s Allowance (CA).
Should a household need additional support with day-to-day costs, such as food, they may be entitled to claim a means-tested benefit such as Universal Credit (UC).
I strongly welcome the Chancellor’s announcement during the Autumn Statement 2022 that the rates for UC, CA, DLA and PIP will be increased by 10.1 per cent, in line with inflation.
The Government is also extending its cost-of-living support package, from £37 billion to £49 billion. This means that, in addition to the Cost-of-Living Payments already being made in 2022, the Government will provide: additional one-off payments of £900 for the eight million households on means-tested benefits, a second £300 Pensioner Cost-of-Living Payment, and another £150 for disability benefit recipients. The Chancellor also announced that the Government will provide £1 billion of extra funding by extending the Household Support Fund for another year, bringing the total of the Fund to £2.5 billion.