Martin Lewis celebrates axing of ‘moral hazard’ gas standing charge in John Healey’s Budget - full reaction
“Having campaigned against the moral hazard of standing charges for years, I’m pleased.”
Martin Lewis has celebrated the axing of the gas standing charge in this year’s Budget, slamming it as a “moral hazard”.
The MoneySavingExpert founder told his followers on social media that he was “pleased” with John Healey’s decision and that he expected a further Budget intervention on household energy bills, which are forecast to soar in January.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he wrote: “I’ve just come out of a meeting with the Chancellor. The gas standing charge will be scrapped in 2027 (my guess, either for 1 Oct price cap or the 1 Jan 28 price cap).
“Having campaigned against the moral hazard of standing charges for years, I’m pleased.
“It’s currently £108 a year. That cost will be shifted onto unit rates. We don’t know how much yet, but I suspect just under 1p per kwH.
“The Chancellor also said he will be talking to Ofgem about how they get rid of the charge on electricity as well, but that is ‘trickier’ apparently and will take longer.”
Mr Lewis said “about 60% of people will pay less due to this, 40% more”, with the dividing line “somewhere around 12,500 kilowatt hours of gas,” as he called for support for vulnerable higher users who will have to pay more.
He continued: “That’s all long-term. The biggest issue in energy right now is that we’re expecting a 27% rise in the price cap in January.
“I asked the Chancellor whether he will be intervening on that. He told me I’d have to wait for the Budget, but reading between the lines, yes, there will be an announcement today.
“Whether it’s an increase in the warm home discount, or whether it’s council tax (band-related), or whether it’s done via a payout for people in say council tax bands A-D as a proxy for household income as Rishi Sunak did who knows.”
The Budget is set to be announced in full in Parliament this afternoon (October 28) following Prime Minister’s Questions.