Jeremy Hunt’s energy discount for firms: the cliff edge still looms even if it isn’t as steep

The discount, according to analysts’ estimates, might not be enough to stave off a crisis, especially if prices start to rise again, explains James Moore

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has set out the support that businesses can get after April (PA Wire)

The £13bn question facing Jeremy Hunt’s new energy bills discount scheme is this: can it survive a second spike in bills?

The current scheme, which runs to April, caps unit energy prices at a cost to the taxpayer of £18bn, which Hunt has argued is unsustainable. To ram home the point, the Treasury equated it to 3p on the basic rate of income tax.

The government also made the case that the taxpayer should not be in the business of providing indefinite subsidies to profit-making enterprises. However, it is worth remembering that public-sector bodies, such as schools and hospitals, along with third-sector organisations, will also have to grapple with the impact of much higher energy bills as a result of a much less generous scheme.