MILLIONS of households across Britain will see reduced energy bills starting July, after the regulator Ofgem announced a 7 per cent cut to its price cap. This is the first cut in nearly a year and comes amid ongoing pressure on household budgets.
The price reduction follows data showing inflation rose more than expected in April, highlighting continued concerns over living costs.
Even with the latest cut, domestic energy bills remain about 50 per cent higher than they were in summer 2021. The increase dates back to the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which caused a sharp rise in gas prices across Europe.
Consumer groups said the drop is not enough to make bills affordable for many people.
"Any fall in the price of energy is always welcome news, but this is a short fall from a great height. Bills remain punishingly high for low-income households," said Adam Scorer, chief executive of the charity National Energy Action.
Tim Jarvis, Ofgem’s director general of markets, encouraged people to explore other options. “The first thing I want to remind people is that you don’t have to pay the price cap – there are better deals out there so it’s important to shop around,” he said in a press release. He added that alternative deals could be up to 200 pounds cheaper per year.
Prime minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday said he was aware that older people were still feeling the impact of high energy prices. He said he wanted to expand eligibility for winter fuel payments after last year’s reduction.
Ofgem said the new cap would be set at 1,720 pounds a year for average usage of gas and electricity. This marks a fall of 129 pounds from the cap in place for April to June.
The regulator said the cut reflects lower global wholesale prices, along with some changes to supplier business costs.
“Global wholesale prices for energy have gone down. While this is the main cause, changes to supplier business costs have also made an impact on energy prices falling,” Ofgem said in a statement.
The price cap, introduced in 2019, currently covers about 65 per cent of UK households.
(With inputs from agencies)
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A former Hertfordshire officer resigned before his misconduct ruling
‘Former Hertfordshire police officer made racist slurs against Asians'
A FORMER Hertfordshire police officer made racist comments to colleagues on multiple occasions, a misconduct panel has found.
PC Oliver Gobey, who resigned as an officer on the morning of the misconduct hearing, directed racist comments at people of Asian descent on two separate occasions.
In the first incident, he directed a “racially motivated” comment at a police sergeant to suggest they had been recruited after 9/11 because they were Asian.
Gobey was immediately challenged by PC Wallace, an “experienced officer” who had been a tutor constable for twenty years.
In a second incident, Gobey was in a police vehicle in Hitchin town centre with three colleagues. A man of Asian descent and his friends approached the officers and spoke to Wallace. The man said he was from Birmingham and asked for recommendations on places to visit.
After the man had walked away, Gobey said: “Or you have come down here to escape the honour-based violence you have caused.”Gobey was again challenged by Wallace. Gobey denied making the racist comments, but the panel concluded on the balance of probabilities that both incidents had taken place.
The panel’s report said: “They were discriminatory comments and they were his own. They were unprovoked. No one encouraged him.”
The panel also concluded that Gobey “chose to lie” about a business interest. He repeatedly failed to submit a proper application to continue part-time work for a private ambulance service and voluntary work for St John Ambulance, but continued with the latter regardless.
He also told a supervisor his business interest application had been successful, when it had not been.
In a fourth incident, Gobey “deliberately typed in random numbers” when assigned to work in the Resource Management Unit (RMU).
His figures, which were found to be wrong, came after Gobey “gave the impression to his colleagues that the work in RMY was ‘beneath’ him”.
While working there, he was heard “swearing about the work”. He was “short-tempered and ‘snappy’.” The panel’s report said: “The compilation of the figures … were far from being a simple administrative matter.
“It was essential operational information required by senior officers to decide how scarce resources would be deployed in the coming days.”
The panel found all the allegations against Gobey to be proven on the balance of probabilities, and concluded that they amounted to “serious gross misconduct” that would have led to him being sacked without notice if he had not resigned. He has also been added to the College of Policing barred list.
(Local Democracy Reporting Service)