The Government plans to move £160 of annual levies on to gas bills to encourage homeowners to choose greener methods of heating their home and help end the UK’s reliance on gas.
It has committed to moving the environmental and social levies on electricity – which pay for wind farm subsidies, as well as help for poorer households – on to gas bills.
Number 10 said this would encourage people to move to electrified heating options, such as heat pumps, which were more expensive to run than gas boilers before the recent price increases, and mean that households are less at the mercy of the global gas market.
The UK is particularly dependent on gas, with 85 per cent of homes heated by gas boilers, leaving households particularly vulnerable to price spikes.
The Government has given no timeline for the switch, but has previously suggested it would wait until gas prices come down.
The strategy also confirms Number 10’s request for a review into the evidence on the safety of fracking by the British Geological Survey, in a sign that ministers are open to lifting the ban on the practice.
