Today Burnham announced the return of the £2 bus fare cap, a much loved policy of previous Governments that was raised to £3 by Reeves two years ago. But who will benefit? [THREAD]
Jonny Marshall
@jonnymarshall.bsky.social
Principal Economist at the Resolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org working on energy and climate policy
The Government has today announced that VAT on electricity bills will be cut from 5% to 0% from October, saving the typical household around £45 a year 1/
New Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he would set out measures to help with the cost of living tomorrow, as the first policy act of his premiership. Crucially, he also said how he would pay for them. So, what cost of living measures should the new PM announce, and what’s to be avoided? 🧵
Most interesting bit of the UK public finances data today: Fuel duty revenues dropped in March to their lowest since July 2023. Strongly suggests people were buying less petrol petrol last month.
Is it time to cut the cord? Our latest substack from Jonathan Marshall and Matthew Cavanagh considers the Government's plans to 'de-link' gas and electricity prices ⤵️ buff.ly/4s3sowS
🚨 New Substack The Government's plans to de-link gas and electricity prices represent an important step forwards, but as it stands the tax incentive needed to drive change may be too weak. Read more 👉 buff.ly/4s3sowS
Cutting the cord
Jonathan Marshall and Matthew Cavanagh dive into the details of the Government's plans to 'de-link' gas and electrcity prices.
resolutionfoundation.substack.com
The Government has made important progress in its plan to ‘de-link’ gas and electricity prices, but needs to beef up its tax threat if it wants to make good on them The @resolutionfoundation.org take on a big but underpowered announcement: resolutionfoundation.substack.com/p/cutting-th...
Cutting the cord
Jonathan Marshall and Matthew Cavanagh dive into the details of the Government's plans to 'de-link' gas and electricity prices.
resolutionfoundation.substack.com
Good to see removing the Carbon Price Support form part of this. Something @resolutionfoundation.org suggested way back in 2023
James Murray@james-bg.bsky.social · 4mo agoWelcome move from the Treasury to expand its energy bill support for businesses, bringing the UK more into line with European competitors. But... www.businessgreen.com/news/4528373...
We're hosting events in April to unpack the effects of war in the Middle East on the UK economy. The first will focus on the coming cost of living crunch, with Jeremy Hunt MP, @kellyipsosuk.bsky.social @dharavyas.bsky.social @jonnymarshall.bsky.social @ruthcurtice.bsky.social ⤵️ buff.ly/srukFo5
England's first Land Use Framework is finally here. It's been a long time coming and there's a lot to welcome. But when it comes do decarbonising land it leaves lots of the trickiest details - on how to not just inform land use decisions but shape them - to future work www.gov.uk/government/p...
Land Use Framework
How we can use our land more effectively to increase the resilience of our homes, communities, infrastructure, and food systems, while speeding up development and restoring nature.
gov.uk
Winter isn't coming quite yet, but the government should start planning now for a possible spike in energy bills this winter. In our latest susbtack, @jonnymarshall.bsky.social breaks down how the government should use the next few months to prepare a social tariff. ➡️
Preparing for the worst
Jonathan Marshall explains what the Government should be doing to prepare to protect families from rising energy bills – and why the petrol prices debate is a distraction.
buff.ly
🚨New @resolutionfoundation.org note out today on how Government can be ready to protect households from the squeeze this winter 1/ www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
What a difference a week makes. It's almost as though our entire energy system is based on something fundamentally unstable
Speech had surprisingly little on global context. Truth is Iran has the potential to put government cost of living plans completely off track. UK exposed to disruption to LNG supplies from Qatar. Impact of gas price moves so far if sustained would be over £500 increase in energy price cap in July.
Energy bills are finally starting to come down – the next price cap will be £117 (7%) lower than today's. Much-needed good news needed for millions of hard-pressed families🧵 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Energy bills to fall in April in price cap change and charges shake-up
Changes announced in the Budget mean all energy bills will see some kind of reduction, but it will vary.
bbc.co.uk
Tomorrow, Ofgem is expected to announce that the energy price cap for Q2 2026 will be nearly £120 lower than current levels. This policy will deliver a boost to living standards from April and should help to keep bills below current levels until at least 2029. Our analysis ➡️ buff.ly/zrvoZMp
💡 New @resolutionfoundation.org note on energy bills out over the weekend 💡 2026 energy bills are on track to be more than £200 lower, in real terms, than in 2024 – overwhelmingly driven by the Government’s discount kicking in this April. www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
Power cut • Resolution Foundation
Next week, Ofgem is expected to announce that the Q2 2026 energy price cap will be nearly £120 below current levels. This reduction is overwhelmingly driven by the Government’s energy bill discount, w...
resolutionfoundation.org
Today's report isn't usual territory, but does show our commitment to evidence. It would be easy to write a report saying protect consumers at all costs. Great analysis by @zackleather.resolutionfoundation.org persuaded us that wasn't the right answer. www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
Green your eats • Resolution Foundation
This report provides an assessment of the UK’s progress toward net zero in the land use and agriculture sector – the only major area where emissions have barely fallen over the past 15 years. It exami...
resolutionfoundation.org
🧵 New research on decarbonising UK farms and what it means for living standards. The good news is decarbonisation should be manageable and won't cost the world - but it'll still be hard, as farming's in a fragile situation. Here's what we found 👇 www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
Green your eats • Resolution Foundation
This report provides an assessment of the UK’s progress toward net zero in the land use and agriculture sector – the only major area where emissions have barely fallen over the past 15 years. It exami...
resolutionfoundation.org
Excited to be finally launching our new report on agricultural decarbonisation tomorrow morning - 9:30 online or in person for anyone who wants to join! 🐑🚜🐮 www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/net-z...
Net zero farming • Resolution Foundation
The UK has made good progress towards net zero in recent decades. But the agriculture sector stands out as having made barely any progress. To meet our legally-binding climate targets, agriculture and...
resolutionfoundation.org
After half a decade of chopping and changing on home upgrade schemes, the Warm Homes Plan should see a more consistent Government approach into the late 2020s. As well as ensuring stable funding, the Plan will also see all programs funded centrally. More on the Warm Homes plan➡️ buff.ly/QJ2881G
Lots of good stuff in the Government's Warm Homes Plan. See 👇👇👇 for the @resolutionfoundation.org hot take
Resolution Foundation@resolutionfoundation.org · 7mo agoAfter half a decade of chopping and changing on home upgrade schemes, the Warm Homes Plan should see a more consistent Government approach into the late 2020s. As well as ensuring stable funding, the Plan will also see all programs funded centrally. More on the Warm Homes plan➡️ buff.ly/QJ2881G
Good set of results on offshore wind auction contracts – the DESNZ team should be praised for balancing the need to deliver a lot of new capacity with the need to keep prices down www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Offshore windfarm contracts to fuel 12m homes in Great Britain after record auction
Subsidies guaranteeing price for each unit of clean electricity generated given to 12 renewables projects
theguardian.com
A DESNZ CLEAN SWEEP A package that saved at least £150 off the average household bill was the minimum this Budget needed to achieve to give Labour at least a fighting chance of getting to their £300 target, given the price rises next year. /1
energy bill discounts doing the heavy lifting on bringing down inflation next year
Jonny Marshall@jonnymarshall.bsky.social · 8mo agoSo that's £125-ish off energy bills - ECO scrapped and 75% of renewables obligation costs moved into the tax system. Big enough to offset bill increases coming next year, and most (~70%) of the savings coming from electricity bills instead of gas. Overall pretty good.
Big news on Fuel Duty - the 5p cut will be removed gradually from September. A good way to end this giveaway without pushing up inflation
So that's £125-ish off energy bills - ECO scrapped and 75% of renewables obligation costs moved into the tax system. Big enough to offset bill increases coming next year, and most (~70%) of the savings coming from electricity bills instead of gas. Overall pretty good.
It's *possible* the Budget could be very green: 🟢 Focus all price cuts on electricity, not gas 🟢 Don't cancel Fuel Duty rises 🟢 Cushion future EV VED rise with public charger VAT cut & other support 🟢 Expand emissions pricing to long-haul flights & international shipping 🟢 Help lower interest rates
In 'Splitting the bill' we found that if the Government removed some policy costs from electricity bills, it could save the average family £160, while pushing down on inflation. Read here 👉 buff.ly/z69JDpL
POLITICO Europe@politico.eu · 9mo agoThe under-fire UK finance minister Rachel Reeves is gearing up for a tricky budget next week — and cutting energy bills could give her something to shout about.
The Government is reportedly drawing up plans to overhaul car taxation in the upcoming Budget. This is welcome and long overdue – transport taxes have failed to keep up with the switch from Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs) to Electric Vehicles (EVs). 🧵 buff.ly/nGl374z
