Families facing cost-of-living pressures are being offered some help, or "breathing space" as Chancellor John Healey is calling it. The help comes as prices are rising faster than expected with annual energy bills in particular likely to increase by around £300 or more in January. Here's how the key announcements in the Budget affect you and your money.
If you are living in a home in council tax bands A to D in England, you will receive a £100 "Household Energy Payment", funded by extra tax on banks. It will be paid directly into your bank account. You can find your council tax band by looking on your annual bill, or by looking on the government's website, external - although that was struggling to cope with traffic after the announcement.
Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive the equivalent funding, and they will decide whether to introduce the same payment. This is designed to help with soaring energy bills. Tariffs linked to regulator Ofgem's price cap, are forecast to soar by hundreds of pounds a year, to an annual bill of £2,000 or more in January.
The VAT cut on electricity bills, which was introduced in October, will also be extended to July. It was due to end in April. Gas standing charges will be scrapped in England, Scotland and Wales, during 2027 "or as soon as possible after", the chancellor said.
These fixed daily fees will be shifted onto the price of each unit of energy. The Treasury calculates that 60% of households will gain an average of £45 a year, with lower users gaining the most - but not until after the projected big rise in bills in January. Higher users - in the biggest houses but also large, low-income families - will pay more than they currently do.
The government wants to extend reforms to electricity standing charges later. The 5p "temporary" cut in fuel duty on petrol and diesel, introduced by Rishi Sunak in 2022, will be extended to July. It was scheduled to be phased out from January.
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