logo
Millions of households to save money on energy bills under new government plans

Millions of households to save money on energy bills under new government plans

Independent5 days ago
Households are set to gain greater control over their energy costs as the government unveils plans for flexible tariffs and smart appliance integration, aimed at significantly cutting electricity bills.
This initiative is projected to contribute to savings of up to £70 billion in system costs by 2050.
Energy minister Michael Shanks detailed the "Clean Flexibility Roadmap," designed to give households and businesses more choice over their energy use and make savings on their bills.
The strategy focuses on enabling consumers to benefit from off-peak, lower electricity prices through flexible tariffs and smart technology.
This includes discounts for electric vehicle (EV) drivers using public chargers at off-peak times.
Suppliers will be required to make smart tariff information more accessible and offer tailored products based on electricity usage.
This strategic shift aims to alleviate financial pressure, bolster power network resilience, and align with the UK's net-zero targets.
Britain will need to shift towards more flexible energy use as the UK becomes more dependent on wind and solar power, such as charging EV batteries when wind is generating a lot of electricity.
Mr Shanks said: 'This roadmap gives households and businesses the choice and control over when and how they use their energy.
'The flexible electricity system we are working to build will help make that a reality for consumers across the country, by supporting them to bring down their bills through using new tariffs and technologies.
'In this way we will protect working people's pockets and ensure they are the first to benefit from our clean power mission.'
A flexibility commissioner will be appointed to lead the policy work, and an annual forum will be set up to track progress on the initiative.
Akshay Kaul, Ofgem's director general for infrastructure group, said: 'A more flexible energy market will be a real game changer, giving households more control over what they pay for their energy.
'Small lifestyle tweaks such as programming a dishwasher or tumble dryer to run overnight when costs are low or charging your electric car during high winds can have a material impact on people's bills.
'At Ofgem we're opening up flexibility markets to bring better tariffs and products to consumers to make cheaper bills a reality.'
The Government has also launched a two-month consultation looking at how more consumers can be supported to use energy flexibly.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Card Factory nabs Funky Pigeon brand as WH Smith focuses on travel
Card Factory nabs Funky Pigeon brand as WH Smith focuses on travel

Daily Mail​

time14 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Card Factory nabs Funky Pigeon brand as WH Smith focuses on travel

Card Factory will buy online personalised card company Funky Pigeon from WH Smith for £24million. It comes as WH Smith sells off its non-core assets, as well as its high street business, to become a pure-play travel retailer with stores in airports and train stations. The deal also marks a significant shift from the high street to online for Card Factory, which told shareholders on Tuesday the takeover will make it the second largest online card and attached gift retailer in the market. Over the last two years, Funky Pigeon has generated around £32million revenue per year and £5million in adjusted earnings before nasties.. The deal, which values Funky Pigeon at £26million, represents approximately five times Funky Pigeon's earnings. Card Factory said the acquisition would accelerate the company's existing digital strategy. Chief executive Darcy Willson-Rymer added: 'This acquisition marks a significant step forward in Card Factory's strategy to build a scaled, competitive digital presence in the celebration occasions market. 'It brings a high-quality platform and proven technology, accelerating our ability to compete in the direct-to-recipient card and gifting segment, so supporting our ambition to become the leading omnichannel retailer in our sector.' The deal will be funded from a drawdown of up to £35million under Card Factory's existing borrowing facility. Once approved, it plans to extract 'annual synergy benefits of more than £5million'. Its outlook for the year - of mid-to-high single-digit percentage growth in sales and adjusted profit - remain unchanged. FTSE 250-listed Card Factory shares were up 8.1 per cent to 96p by midmorning on Tuesday. WH Smith said the Funky Pigeon sale followed a 'strategic review' of the business and 'will be used to improve the group's net debt position.' It marks the latest asset disposal for the high street stalwart, after it group agreed a £76million sale of its high street business to Hobbycraft owner Modella. The sale of its high street arm comes after years of under-pressure sales and profits at the division, while WH Smith's travel business has grown to make up the bulk of its sales and profits, with more than 1,200 stores across 32 countries. It will focus its efforts on its stores in train station and airports, ditching the WH Smith name for the TGJones brand.

Gaza latest: Starmer recalls cabinet to decide on Palestine recognition as Trump calls out ‘real starvation'
Gaza latest: Starmer recalls cabinet to decide on Palestine recognition as Trump calls out ‘real starvation'

The Independent

time16 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Gaza latest: Starmer recalls cabinet to decide on Palestine recognition as Trump calls out ‘real starvation'

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will convene an emergency cabinet meeting later to discuss a peace plan and aid for Gaza, as pressure mounts on him to recognise Palestinian statehood. Humanitarian groups warned this week is critical to prevent mass starvation in Gaza, saying Israel 's aid supplies fall short. 'In the coming days, thousands of Gaza's children will either be rescued or allowed to die,' the president of the International Rescue Committee said. It comes after Donald Trump acknowledged 'real starvation ' in Gaza and pledged the US would set up food centres 'with no fences'. He dismissed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's claim that there was no starvation in Gaza and urged him to ensure aid reaches Palestinians. Local health officials confirmed at least 14 more Palestinians, including two children, had died from hunger and malnutrition, bring the toll from starvation and malnutrition to 147, including 88 children. Israeli human rights groups B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights- Israel have labelled the war on Gaza, which has killed over 59,000 people so far, as ' genocide '. Israeli forces continued their deadly attacks across the territory on Monday, killing at least 78 people, according to local health officials. Can airdrops solve the Gaza crisis? Aid agencies are sceptical The UK is set to join Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in airdropping aid into Gaza as starvation and malnutrition have reached perilous levels in the war-torn strip. Following pressure from the international community, Israel has announced brief 'humanitarian pauses' between 10am and 8pm each day to allow more aid to be delivered to starving Palestinians, as US president Donald Trump said on Monday: 'They have to get food and safety right now.' Can airdrops solve the Gaza crisis? Aid agencies are sceptical Airdropping is a controversial method of aid distribution which has been described by charities as a last resort for Gaza Steffie Banatvala29 July 2025 09:00 UK cabinet recalled from summer break for Gaza meeting Keir Starmer is holding an emergency UK cabinet meeting today to discuss a European-led peace plan and aid efforts for Gaza. He presented the plan to Trump in Scotland yesterday and details will be released after the meeting which is being held at 14:00 BST today. The plan will also be shared with allies, including Arab states, over the next few days, a spokesperson for Starmer said. In an article over the weekend, the prime minister compared the plans to the proposed "coalition of the willing" to support a potential deal to end the Ukraine war. Steffie Banatvala29 July 2025 08:44 Two Israeli rights groups say their country is committing genocide in Gaza Two prominent Israeli rights groups on Monday said their country is committing genocide in Gaza. This marks the first time that local Jewish-led organizations have made such accusations against Israel during nearly 22 months of war. The claims by B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel add to an explosive debate over whether Israel's military offensive in Gaza — launched in response to Hamas ' deadly October 7 2023, attack — amounts to genocide. The Palestinians, their supporters and international human rights groups make that claim, and the International Court of Justice is currently hearing a genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel. But in Israel itself, founded in the wake of the Holocaust, even the government's strongest critics have largely refrained from making these accusations. Maroosha Muzaffar29 July 2025 08:30 Trump gives Starmer green light to recognise Palestinian state Donald Trump has removed a key obstacle to Sir Keir Starmer officially recognising a Palestinian state as the prime minister prepares to discuss the issue at a crucial cabinet meeting this week. The president, seen as one of Israel 's strongest supporters, signalled the United States would not object to such a move – giving Sir Keir the green light as pressure mounts on him politically to follow Emmanuel Macron, who last week announced France would do so. In an apparent shift in US backing for Israel, the president also expressed his concern at images and reports of children starving in Gaza, as a ground blockade means only very limited aid is getting through. And he joined calls for Benjamin Netanyahu to soften his tactics in Gaza, saying the Israeli PM 'may have to do it a different way'. Trump gives Starmer green light to recognise Palestinian state 'I don't mind him taking a position' says president after talks at Turnberry golf resort in Scotland Maroosha Muzaffar29 July 2025 08:00 AIPAC drops support for GOP lawmaker after call to 'starve away' Gaza until hostages freed AIPAC appears to have dropped its endorsement of Republican Congressman Randy Fine after he tweeted: 'Release the hostages. Until then, starve away.' '(This is all a lie anyway. It amazes me that the media continues to regurgitate Muslim terror propaganda.),' Fine added in the July 22 post. AIPAC had backed Fine in his House race earlier this year, but by Monday evening, his name no longer appeared in the pro-Israel lobby's list of endorsed candidates, according to The Times of Israel. Fellow Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted: 'A Jewish US Representative calling for the continued starvation of innocent people and children is disgraceful. It's the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza.' Maroosha Muzaffar29 July 2025 07:30 Two-state solution further off than ever – UN chief UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict is "further than ever before". Mr Guterres said actions "that would forever undermine the two-state solution" must stop, and he urged a two-day UN conference to be a "decisive turning point" rather than mere rhetoric. French and Saudi foreign ministers on Monday opened the conference on a two-state solution to the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict. Jane Dalton29 July 2025 07:00 Palestinian activist fatally shot by an Israeli settler in West Bank Palestinian activist and teacher Odeh Muhammad Hadalin, known for his work on the Oscar-winning film No Other Land, was shot and killed by an Israeli settler in the West Bank village of Umm al-Khair. The alleged shooter, identified by residents as Yinon Levi, sanctioned by the EU and US, was arrested, though Israeli police also detained four Palestinians and two tourists, Al Jazeera reported. Human rights group B'Tselem has accused Israel of genocide, citing a spike in settler attacks carried out with impunity. Over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 2023. Maroosha Muzaffar29 July 2025 06:30 Toll of Gazans killed by Israeli military 'rises to 78' Monday's death toll of Palestinians in Gaza from Israeli strikes or gunfire has risen to 78, according to local health officials. The dead included a newborn who was delivered in complex surgery after his mother was killed in a strike, according to the Nasser Hospital. The Israeli military had no immediate comment about the latest strikes, which occurred outside the time frame for the suspension of military operations that Israel declared would be between 10am and 8pm local time. Jane Dalton29 July 2025 06:06 Starmer calls humanitarian situation in Gaza 'absolutely intolerable' Kier Starmer told the media on Monday that 'people in Britain are revolted at seeing what they are seeing on their screens', referring to the images of starving children in Gaza. He called the humanitarian situation in Gaza 'absolutely intolerable'. 'We need to galvanize other countries in support of getting that aid in, and, yes, that does involve putting pressure on Israel, because it absolutely is a humanitarian catastrophe,' he said. Maroosha Muzaffar29 July 2025 05:30 Israeli opposition leader warns Israel could be ostracised The head of the opposition in Israel's parliament has called on the government to immediately end the war in Gaza, calling it "not a complete victory, but a complete disaster". "If we don't end the war now, the hostages will not return, the IDF will continue to lose its best fighters, the humanitarian disaster will worsen, the world will close itself off to Israelis," Yair Lapid said. He called on a coalition of moderate Arab countries, led by Egypt, to run Gaza. "The management of humanitarian aid in Gaza has collapsed. It simply doesn't work," he said, claiming that Israel was helping Hamas' campaign as the humanitarian situation continued to worsen.

Barclays joins rival in cautioning against hiking bank taxes
Barclays joins rival in cautioning against hiking bank taxes

The Independent

time16 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Barclays joins rival in cautioning against hiking bank taxes

The boss of Barclays has become the latest to caution the Chancellor against hiking taxes for banks in her autumn budget as she looks to bolster the public finances. Group chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan, who is also known as Venkat, said that increasing taxes for banks – or other important sectors of the economy – was not consistent with aims to boost economic growth. He said banks were already 'among the biggest tax payers in this country' and an important sector to help drive economic activity, with growth 'the primary objective for the UK'. 'There are many other important sectors. 'We want all those sectors to prosper,' he added. His comments come after Lloyds Banking Group chief executive Charlie Nunn said last week that raising taxes on banks would be at odds with the Government's pro-growth aims. There has been increasing speculation that Chancellor Rachel Reeves may look to raise taxes, with the banking sector rumoured to be among those potentially in the firing line, as she faces pressure over the UK's public finances following higher-than-expected Government borrowing and U-turns on some spending cuts. Venkat's comments came as the group revealed that half-year profits jumped by nearly a quarter thanks to an investment banking boost amid financial market volatility sparked by US President Donald Trump's tariff war. The high street lender reported a 23% rise in pre-tax profits to £5.2 billion for the six months to June 30. This came despite it booking credit impairment charges of £1.1 billion, up from £897 million a year earlier, after putting by another £469 million in the second quarter. The bank said the rise was largely due to its takeover of Tesco Bank and a more uncertain economic outlook, especially in the US. Its results were better than expected for the second quarter, with profits up 28% to £2.5 billion thanks to forecast-beating revenues in its investment banking arm amid market volatility. Income in its investment banking business lifted 10% to £3.3 billion in the second quarter. Venkat said: 'We remain on track to achieve the objectives of our three-year plan, delivering structurally higher and more stable returns for our investors.' Barclays unveiled more returns for investors, with plans for another £1 billion in share buybacks, and said it has cut around £350 million of costs out of the £500 million in savings planned for 2025.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store