Recommendation 22

Over the course of 2022, the government announced £69 billion worth of measures to protect billpayers from price increases. In February 2022, it announced a £200 upfront reduction in customers’ bills from October 2022, which was expected to be repaid by customers over five years from April 2023. In May 2022, this became the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS), with the government doubling the payment to £400 per household and removing the requirement for it to be repaid. In December 2022, it also created the equivalent scheme, Alternative Funding Scheme, for households without a direct relationship with an electricity supplier, such as those living in park homes and care homes.46 44 Qq 6–9, 42–43; C&AG’s Report, paras 1.2, 2.10 45 Qq 10, 18–20 46 Committee of Public Accounts, Energy Bills support, Fifty-Eighth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 1074, 16 June 2023, recommendation 1–2, para 3 18 Bulb Energy