Household energy bills to soar by average of £111 from April 1 as Sir Keir Starmer told to 'apologise'

Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to “apologise to voters” after it was confirmed energy bills would rise for the third time since Labour came to power.

Households are facing a 6.4 per cent jump in their energy bills from April amid proposals to give around three million more homes access to a £150 discount.

Regulator Ofgem is displayed on the screen of a laptop, next to energy bills. Picture: Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images | AFP via Getty Images

Ofgem said the increase to the price cap, which will raise the average bill for households in Scotland, England and Wales on a standard variable tariff from the existing £1,738 a year to £1,849, followed a recent spike in wholesale prices.

The rise will equate to £111 for an average household per year – around £9.25 a month – over the three-month period of the price cap.

This is 9.4 per cent or £159 higher than this time last year, but £531 or 22 per cent lower than at the height of the energy crisis at the start of 2023.

During last year’s general election campaign, Sir Keir said Labour would “help families save up to £300 off their energy bills”, with a timescale given as 2030 – when the UK government aims to have hit its clean power target.

Juergen Maier, the chairman of Labour's new state-owned GB Energy, was unable to say when quizzed earlier this month when the firm would help cut energy bills.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said of the latest price cap increase: "During the election, the Labour Party promised voters it would cut energy bills by £300, but instead it has increased them three times – and they are now almost £300 higher.

"Keir Starmer must apologise to voters for breaking his promises – and urgently outline what emergency steps he will take to reverse these huge increases to household bills.

"We were told things would get better in broken Brexit Britain, but under the Labour Party the cost of living is rising, unemployment is increasing and the UK economy is stagnating. People were understandably angry when the Labour government cut the winter fuel payment for 900,000 Scottish pensioners, but now millions of families across Scotland will pay the price for this obscene Labour Party energy bill hike.”

Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley said: “We know that no price rise is ever welcome, and that the cost of energy remains a huge challenge for many households.

“But our reliance on international gas markets leads to volatile wholesale prices and continues to drive up bills, which is why it’s more important than ever that we’re driving forward investment in a cleaner, homegrown system.

“Energy debts that began during the energy crisis have reached record levels and without intervention will continue to grow. This puts families under huge stress and increases costs for all customers.

“We’re developing plans that could give households with unmanageable debt the clean slate they need to move forward.”

It came as the UK government announced it was consulting on offering more support to UK consumers facing an “unpredictable international energy market”.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said on Tuesday that one in five families in Britain would get financial help in the proposals.

Around 2.7 million extra households, including nearly one million with children, would be eligible for the £150 Warm Home Discount next winter, it added. This would bring the total number of recipient homes to an estimated 6.1 million.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the rising price cap was “worrying news” for many families.

Mr Miliband said: “This government is determined to do everything we can to protect people from the grip of fossil fuel markets. Expanding the Warm Home Discount can help protect millions of families from rising energy bills, offering support to consumers across the country.

“Alongside this, the way to deliver energy security and bring down bills for good is to deliver our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower with homegrown clean power that we in Britain control.”

Ofgem said four million customers had moved to a fixed tariff since its last price cap announcement in November, taking the total to 11 million, meaning they would not be affected by the increase.

This was the largest movement of customers coming off the price cap and on to a fixed deal since the energy crisis, the regulator said.

However, Citizens Advice chief executive Dame Clare Moriarty said the service was helping people every day who “simply can’t afford this latest price hike” as its latest research showed the number of people living in debt to their energy supplier had reached a new high of nearly seven million.

Dame Clare said: “We’re particularly concerned about households with children, where over one in three struggle to afford bills, rising to more than half of those on low incomes.”

Consumer Scotland director of policy and advocacy Douglas White said: “This latest rise comes after another challenging winter for consumers, particularly those with higher energy needs including disabled people and those with health conditions.

“One of the legacies of the past three years of high bills has been a growth of energy debt and arrears in the GB domestic market, which now exceeds £3.8bn – a record high – and bill increases will impact further on levels of debt.”

“Bill increases and unsustainable levels of debt underline the urgent need for reform so that affordability support reaches those who need it.”

The price cap increase follows a warning to households of at least months of pain after the Bank of England forecast higher-than-expected inflation this summer due to rising bills.The Bank’s warning that inflation will hit a peak of 3.7 per cent later in the summer follows a multitude of predicted hikes to household expenses, including food, energy, water, council tax and bus fares.