‘Scattergun’ budget will still leave Britons facing higher energy bills, says thinktank
Healey’s attempt to provide ‘breathing space’ gives rich almost as much as poor, says Resolution Foundation Business live – latest updates Budget 2026: what it means for your walle
By The Guardian
Chancellor John Healey’s Budget has been described as “scattergun” by the Resolution Foundation, which warned that households will still face higher energy bills than during the last energy price shock.
The thinktank said the measures announced to ease the cost of living had been spread too thinly and would do little to improve living standards.
Typical annual energy bills are forecast to reach £1,750 in 2026-27 after government support, according to the foundation. That is higher in real terms than the £1,685 paid during the 2022-23 energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Budget included a £100 energy payment for up to 20 million households in council tax bands A to D. It also proposed scrapping standing charges on gas bills.
Resolution Foundation chief executive Ruth Curtice said the support would leave even families receiving help with higher bills than during the previous energy shock.
The foundation said only just over half of the new cost-of-living measures would go to the poorer half of households. It also forecast that typical disposable income could fall by £1,050 between now and the end of the parliamentary term in 2028-29.
The analysis was published after Healey said the Budget was intended to provide households with “breathing space”. The Resolution Foundation warned that the measures would not prevent a difficult second half of the parliamentary term.