Government programs to ease energy bills pushed UK government borrowing to $20.42 billion (GBP 16.7 billion) last month, the highest public borrowing in February since monthly records began, it said on Tuesday the National Statistics Office (ONS).
Grants and other grants “paid by central government in February 2023 compared to the previous year are estimated to be approximately £9.3 billion [$11.37 billion]. The majority of this is due to the new energy support programs this year”, states the monthly report of the ONS. The report did not break down grant spending.
The Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) for households, which started in October 2022 and now runs until June 2023, caps charges per unit of electricity or gas at an annual equivalent of around $3,056.89 (GBP 2,500) for a typical household in Britain. In Northern Ireland, the EPG came into effect a month later, offering a discount of $0.17 (GBP 0.136) per kilowatt hour for electricity and $0.048 (GBP 0.039) for gas from January 2023 to March 2023. Rates have increased from April 2023. to June 2023, but from October to December last year.
Meanwhile, the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) offers each household $489.1 (£400), split monthly from October 2022 to March 2023. “This month marks the fifth round of EBSS payments, with GBP 1.9 billion. [$2.32 billion] of central government spending recorded as a current transfer from government to households,” the ONS said.
For businesses and organizations in the public or voluntary sector, the Energy Bill Relief Scheme caps the cost of electricity at $258 (£211) per megawatt hour (mwh) and gas at $91.71 (£75) per mwh for both Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Effective October 2022, due to end this month.
UK non-domestic consumers who are not subscribed to the gas network and use alternative fuels receive a fixed payment of $183.41 (£150).
Mainly due to these support plans, net public sector borrowing in the country rose to $20.42 billion, up $11.86 billion (GBP 9.7 billion) from February 2022 “and the highest borrowing of February since monthly records began in 1993,” the ONS said.
“Initial estimates show that current central government revenue in February 2023 was £77.8 billion [$95.13 billion]an increase of GBP 4.9 billion [$5.99 billion] (6.8%) compared to February 2022. Over the same period, current expenditure increased by GBP 9.5 billion [$11.62 billion] (13.0%) to GBP 80.8 billion [$98.8 billion]largely due to the substantial cost of their energy support schemes”, explained the ONS.
“Total spending, including depreciation and net investment, grew to £90.1 billion [$110.17 billion] in February 2023, GBP 11.6 billion [$14.18 billion] (14.7%) more than a year before”.
More energy aid
Electricity prices rose by 66.7 per cent and gas by 129.4 per cent in the UK in the 12 months to February 2023, leading to a 10.4 per cent rise in inflation consumer price index during the period, according to the latest data from the ONS.
As part of the additional energy support, the government is removing the premium paid by more than four million households using prepaid meters (PPMs), “bringing their charges in line with comparable direct debit customers until the end of the EPG and saving – them an average of 45 GBP. [$55.02] a year,” said the spring budget document released Tuesday.
“Looking beyond the end of the EPG, the government will ensure that the PPM premium ends permanently,” he added. “The government supports Ofgem’s [Office of Gas and Electricity Markets] ongoing work to review PPM costs and has asked the regulator to report before the autumn on any additional regulatory options, including options to end the permanent PPM charge premium, so that they are ready for implementation in in April 2024″.
The rate of vehicle fuel tax has also been frozen for a further 12 months, keeping the cut of $0.06 (£0.05) per liter for leaded and unleaded diesel and petrol. The extension of the cut is $12.23 billion over two years, “worth around £200 [$244.55] for the average car driver”, the budget states.
Cost of Living “Emergency”
Local health chiefs said “cost of living pressures”, including those on energy bills, have triggered “the second major health emergency in three years” following the Covid-19 pandemic (disease coronavirus 2019).
“The rising cost of living is a result of the Covid-19 pandemic that has affected people’s health. People with less financial resilience are the most affected, but an increasing number of people who they were previously “just about to manage” now they need support,” the Local Government Association wrote in its 2023 public health report, an annual review conducted with the Association of Chief Executives of Public Administration. Health.
Louise Wallace, head of public health for North Yorkshire County, highlighted “fuel poverty”, saying in the report published on Monday that “public health identified it as one of the main challenges facing people in the county “.
“A central theme of this report is that economic prosperity and health go hand in hand, but the links between the two need to be much more widely understood and addressed through national policy and funding,” the report says .
So-called warm spaces have sprung up in the UK for people to warm up, find something to eat, socialize or learn skills. Some of these have been formed by municipal governments and others by community spaces such as libraries transformed for these purposes.
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Photo Credit – iStock.com/Muhammet Camdereli
