Local politicians have had their say on today’s announcement that the energy price cap will be frozen at £2,500 for the next two years. 

Prime Minister Liz Truss has announced that the measures will come into force from October 1 as the Government responds to soaring gas and electricity prices. 

Wokingham MP John Redwood said he has been “urging the government” to do more to help with the cost of living crisis and is “glad they have listened”.

“I have also urged them to increase the UK’s supply of domestic energy to reduce our dependence on dear imports from abroad. They have set up a special Task Force to do just this,” he added.

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Liberal Democrats parliamentary candidate for Wokingham, Cllr Clive Jones, said “the price cap has still doubled” since last year and that the measures are “not addressing this fact”. 

“We are not making a considerable impact on people at the lower end of the income scale. It doesn’t affect people like John Redwood, but it does affect people with an income of less than £30,000, considerably.  

“It really affects people with incomes of less than £60-70,000,” he added. 

Without intervention, the average household energy bill would have jumped 80 per cent in the autumn, from the current £1,971 to £3,549 a year under Ofgem’s latest price cap. 

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Cllr Jones “welcomes the freeze” but said the “big concern” is how it is to be paid for and called for a “larger windfall tax” on energy firms. 

The call for a windfall tax was echoed by Wokingham Labour Councillor Andy Croy, who said the “Truss Tax” will mean “the burden falling on working people”. 

“Energy companies are making money hand over fist off the back of price rises caused by Putin’s war – it is totally wrong that this cost should be passed on to the British people by the Conservatives,” he added. 

Ms Truss has announced that the new Energy Price Guarantee will supersede the existing price cap until 2024, the year the next general election is expected, and will apply to all households in Great Britian. 

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Every household in the UK will still receive the non-repayable £400 payment from the Government as part of the cost-of-living support package, which Rishi Sunak announced while chancellor. 

It will be applied directly to households’ energy bills, divided into monthly instalments between October and March. 

The £2,500 figure given by Ms Truss takes this rebate into account, hence why it is higher than the current price cap. 

Cllr Croy said this £600 raise “will be disastrous” for many people and said prices “should have been frozen” at £1,971.