UK Inquiry Tracker

Energy Bills Support

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 29 Nov 2024 Closed: 16 Jun 2025 Parliament page

Beginning in autumn 2021, energy bills began to increase significantly due to factors including increased global demand for gas post-pandemic, and the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on energy markets. Average annual household bills for gas and electricity increased from £1,277 in winter 2021/22 to over £4,000 by the … Read more Beginning in autumn 2021, energy bills began to increase significantly due to factors including increased global demand for gas post-pandemic, and the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on energy markets. Average annual household bills for gas and electricity increased from £1,277 in winter 2021/22 to over £4,000 by the start of 2023.The Government acted to provide financial support to reduce the impact of these increases on consumers. In its June 2023 report on the Government’s energy bills support scheme, the Committee found that support took too long to get to those most in need, with approximately 1.7m people left waiting months for help due to Government’s lack of bandwidth. It also raised serious concerns around a lack of urgency from Government in addressing energy market failures that were leading to high energy bills for consumers. As at February 2023, Government’s estimated total cost of its various schemes was £69bn, though such estimates are inherently uncertain. The National Audit Office (NAO) followed up on its own report in 2024. The report looked at subjects including the extent to which the support schemes protected consumers and boosted the economy, their total cost, and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s (DESNZ) management of the schemes’ closure and risks around fraud and error. It also explored DESNZ’s approach to protecting consumers against future volatility in energy prices. Based on the NAO report, the Committee will hear from senior DESNZ officials on subjects including lessons learned from the support provided, and what approach is being taken to protect consumers against future volatility in energy prices. Please note the Committee is unable to help with individual cases. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. If you have evidence on these issues please submit it here by 23:59 on Thursday 23 January 2025. Show less

3 Recommendations

25 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

3 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 8 events

8 Jan
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Interim Permanent Secretary at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero relating to the Committee’s Nineteenth Repor…

18 Sep
2025

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Nineteenth report from Session 2024-26

4 Sep
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero relating to the 19th Report of Session 2024-25, Ener…

17 Jul
2025

Correspondence

Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero relating to the Treasury Minute response on Energy bil…

10 Jul
2025

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Nineteenth report from Session 2024-25

28 Mar
2025

Report published

19th Report - Energy Bills Support

6 Feb
2025

Oral evidence

Oral evidence session

6 Feb
2025

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Committee event

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

6 Feb 2025

View on parliament.uk

Ben Golding · Clean Power 2030 Jeremy Pocklington CB · Ministry of Defence Jonathan Mills · Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
19th Report - Energy Bills Support	HC 511	28 Mar 2025	28	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

7 results

3 Conclusion Accepted

19th Report - Energy Bills Support

Develop strategies for next winter to support consumers at greater risk of fuel poverty.

The Department has not done enough to address the challenges of providing financial support to vulnerable consumers in the event of another crisis. The Department reported that between mid–2022 and mid–2023 the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) and Energy Bills Support … Read more

Government Response

The government has consulted on expanding the Warm Home Discount scheme, which is estimated to reach an additional 2.7 million households, and is considering options for better targeting of future bill support.

HM Treasury

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5 Recommendation Accepted

19th Report - Energy Bills Support

Set out timetable for rebalancing energy costs and implementing electricity market reform proposals.

We remain concerned that even after the crisis has subsided, UK electricity bills are the highest of the countries providing comparable data to the International Energy Agency. The UK had the highest electricity price out of 25 countries reporting both … Read more

Government Response

The government commits to publishing a decision on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) by mid-2025 and will provide the Committee with a timetable for implementing the proposals for change once decisions are made.

HM Treasury

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6 Recommendation Accepted

19th Report - Energy Bills Support

Set out plan for ensuring grid capacity during low renewable generation and improve supply reporting.

The Department has more to do to convince Parliament that it has a robust plan for ensuring security of energy supply to meet increasing demand. The security of energy supply is the highest priority for the Department. Energy demand is … Read more The Department has more to do to convince Parliament that it has a robust plan for ensuring security of energy supply to meet increasing demand. The security of energy supply is the highest priority for the Department. Energy demand is set to rise from increasing numbers of electric vehicles and heat pumps, data processing centres, as well as the move to building homes. The stability of the energy grid might be affected by the Department’s plans to move towards cleaner power by 2030, because intermittent renewable energy from wind and solar vary according to the weather conditions. Intermittent energy sources will therefore need to be complemented by flexible and baseload power. Nuclear is an important low–carbon form of baseload generation but there are questions around the life and capacity of the existing plants and the time needed to get small modular nuclear reactors up and running. In January 2025, the National Energy Systems Operator issued a routine notification to energy providers to increase supply, after energy generation briefly fell below a margin set to make sure demand in the days ahead was met. It acknowledged, however, that there had been some speculation about the seriousness of the situation. The Department indicated that supply levels had been lower in the past and the system responded effectively to the potential supply issues. But such interventions are not cost free–this response cost £21 million. DESNZ needs to make sure its public reporting of such incidents meets the highest standards of transparency. recommendation a. The Department should set out in its Treasury Minute response how it will make sure there is capacity in the grid when there is low generation from renewable energy during periods of calm weather, including from wider technologies like nuclear. b. The Department should, in time for next winter, work with the National Energy Systems Operator to explore ways of improving reporting on energy supply issues and how they are handle Show less

Government Response

The government and National Energy Systems Operator (NESO) have updated response and communications procedures, including building educational content and reframing communications, and the National Emergency Plan will be updated by DESNZ later in 2025.

HM Treasury

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1 Conclusion Accepted

19th Report - Energy Bills Support

Committee took evidence on Department's financial support for consumers with energy bills.

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (the Department) on its work to provide financial support to consumers in the light of significant … Read more

Government Response

The government will share overarching lessons learned reports and domestic/non-domestic evaluation reports with the Committee upon their publication in Q3 2025, and will write to the Committee within one month of publication to detail learnings for future energy crises.

HM Treasury

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24 Conclusion Accepted

19th Report - Energy Bills Support

UK's reliance on natural gas results in highest energy bill support in Europe

Analysis from the Office for Budget Responsibility concluded that the size of the government’s financial support for energy bills (relative to Gross Domestic Product) was one of the highest in Europe because of the UK’s reliance on natural gas.69 The … Read more

Government Response

The government secures electricity security via the Capacity Market (CM), assessing capacity annually and securing it in advance, while also addressing the variable nature of renewables by relying on unabated gas and working with the market to understand the capacity provided by nuclear. DESNZ and NESO have worked to update response and communications procedures, and the National Emergency Plan will be updated later this year.

HM Treasury

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25 Conclusion Accepted

19th Report - Energy Bills Support

Department dismisses concerns over grid supply levels, asserting routine system operation

The Department described energy security and the security of supply as its highest priority. We asked the Department what it thought about concerns, set out in a document published by Net Zero Watch called “Blackout Risk in the GB Grid”, … Read more

Government Response

HM Treasury

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26 Conclusion Accepted

19th Report - Energy Bills Support

Growing grid demand and intermittent renewables require sufficient flexible generation for stability

Demand on the grid is likely to grow due to the increased demand for electric cars and heat pumps and a rising number of data processing centres, as well as the move to building more new homes.78 In addition, the … Read more

Government Response

The Capacity Market (CM) is the department’s primary mechanism to ensure supply meets demand and delivers electricity security, and the department is focused on maintaining existing flexible capacity to ensure security of supply.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 20 of 3 classified

Accepted 7

Accepted in Part 3

Acknowledged 3

Deferred 6

Rejected 1

Total 3 recs + 25 conclusions

Correspondence 3 letters

8 Jan 2026 To committee Letter from the Interim Permanent Secretary at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero relating to the Committee’s Nineteenth Report on Energy Bills Support, 11 December 2025

Parliament page

4 Sep 2025 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero relating to the 19th Report of Session 2024-25, Energy Bills Support, recommendations 2 and 3, 01 August 2025

Parliament page

17 Jul 2025 From committee Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero relating to the Treasury Minute response on Energy bills support, 15 July 2025

Parliament page