Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 5
19th Report - Energy Bills Support
Published 28 Mar 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Energy Bills Support All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
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 domestic and industrial electricity prices in 2023, (including taxes and levies) and electricity is currently four–times more expensive than gas. Despite repeated promises, the Department has delayed taking action to rebalance energy prices by shifting the cost of environmental levies from electricity to gas. In addition, the Department is reviewing how electricity prices are set for households so that they can benefit from cheaper rates if demand is low or when the weather means more energy is produced. But this review has been running for three years and remains on an uncertain timetable, meaning it is unclear when consumers will start to see the benefits through reductions to their bills. recommendation a. The Department should set out a timetable for policy decisions to reduce electricity bills through its previous commitments to rebalance the costs of electricity and gas. b. The Department should set out a timetable for implementing the proposals for change it has identified from its review of electricity market arrangements. 5
From: Public Accounts Committee, 19th Report - Energy Bills Support (HC 511), 28 March 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Nineteenth Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Nineteenth report from Session 2024-26
Published 18 September 2025.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Nineteenth report from Session 2024-25
Published 10 July 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with the Committee's recommendations on lessons learned, targeted support, vulnerable consumers, electricity bills and energy supply, and disagrees with the recommendation on supplier debt advice data.
- On lessons from the evaluations, the government agrees and says that "within one month of publication" the department will write to the Committee, with evaluations to be published by Q3 2025 (target date October 2025).
- On targeting support, the government agrees (target September 2025) and says it is "taking the opportunity to review options for better targeting of future bill support" beyond March 2026, while describing data sharing as "complex matters".
- On supplier debt advice data, the government disagrees. It proposes that Ofgem, as market regulator, is "better suited than DESNZ" to collect information, and says the review of Ofgem aims to publish its outcomes in autumn 2025.
- On rebalancing electricity and gas costs, the government agrees (target July 2025) and says it "will set out proposals for rebalancing domestic energy bills in due course". It adds that it is operating in a "difficult fiscal environment".