Scrap green levies to help consumers pay rising household energy bills, says Yorkshire peer

Former Conservative MP Baroness Anne McIntosh of Pickering has called for the charges – which raise money to pay for new technologies – to be paused, while gas prices and bills continue to soar through the winter months.

Baroness McIntosh will lead a debate on the energy crisis in the House of Lords today, discussing the impact that rising bills are having on the general public, particularly those on fixed incomes and pensioners.

She believes that industry should be raising the money for new infrastructure investments themselves, rather than passing the cost on to the paying public.

She told The Yorkshire Post: “One of the actions I’m looking at is to suspend the green levies for now, and really, I think the Government should ask energy companies to ensure that they raise the money for infrastructure and particularly the next generation of renewables from the market, and they have to take the risk.

“They shouldn’t pass that on to the consumer.”

In terms of the levies on bills, Baroness McIntosh added: “I don’t know why we’ve ended up doing that. 25 per cent of our bills are to fund for the new infrastructure. I think that’s wrong.

They should raise the money in the normal way.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson dismissed calls to scrap VAT from household energy bills during a press conference on Tuesday as some experts predict the energy price cap – which is currently protecting consumers from bill rises – could increase by up to 50 per cent in April.

Fellow peer Baroness Ros Altmann has warned that pensioners in particular are facing a “perfect storm” this winter as a result of the increasing costs, and former Conservative Minister Robert Halfon has similarly called for the green costs to be scrapped given the rising bills.

“The Government must do what they can to reduce energy bills – of course reducing VAT would help and it is an important gesture,” he told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme.

“But there is an elephant in the room, and that is the so-called energy tax green levies which amount to 25 per cent of the electricity bill that we all pay.”

The Prime Minister has said that the Government is using a number of measures to help family pay their bills throughout the pandemic.

When asked about the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, Boris Johnson said Ministers’ aim was to keep the country “open” and “moving”.

Speaking at the dispatch box in place of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer who is isolating after a positive Covid test, Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said: “The Prime Minister and his Chancellor have presided over economic mismanagement, low growth and neglect of our public services.

“And their resolution to fix this? Whacking more taxes on working people.

“Combine the tax rise with soaring energy prices and the average family faces a hit of £1,200 – this is an iceberg right ahead, so will he finally stop and change course… or will he plough on to what will be a disaster for thousands of families?” Mr Johnson insisted the Government had taken steps to “keep this country open, keep our economy moving”.