UKH welcomes Energy Prices Bill

UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls has welcomed the Government’s new Energy Prices Bill adding that it will provide “relief to all manner of hospitality businesses”.

Under the new bill, consumers will pay a fairer price for their electricity as the UK government introduces new emergency powers that will ensure consumers across the country receive help with their energy bills this winter.

Without the launch of the schemes, businesses and consumers had been left facing increasing financial turmoil, with energy bills estimated to increase to as high as £6,500 before the government stepped in. Recently announced support will see a typical household pay £2,500 a year for energy, while businesses will be paying less than half of predicted wholesale costs this winter.

The Government said The Energy Prices Bill, introduced in Parliament today (12 October 2022), provides the “legislative footing” needed to ensure that people and businesses across the UK receive support with their energy bills this winter through the Energy Price Guarantee for domestic consumers and Energy Bill Relief Scheme for businesses and non-domestic properties.

This includes essential measures that enable the UK government to deliver comparable schemes in Northern Ireland and legislation that will require landlords and heat network operators to pass benefits through to tenants.

Nicholls said: “The government’s intervention to support hospitality businesses facing soaring energy costs this winter is extremely welcome and it’s fantastic to see this legislation introduced. The measures in this Bill will provide relief to all manner of hospitality businesses, from the smallest companies to the largest.

“The introduction of these measures follows months of campaigning by UKHospitality to ensure the government recognised the huge impact rising energy costs will have on our sector.”

She added: “I’m pleased that the government has continued to listen to the sector to ensure its relief package is inclusive for all. Its decision to expand the scheme to include operators on fixed price contracts agreed from 1 December 2021 has avoided unfairly penalising businesses who had acted early to protect themselves from further price hikes. The publication of wholesale energy prices will also provide much-needed clarity for businesses.

“Unfortunately, the reality of this crisis means that, even with this support, energy bills will still be much higher than last year and many hospitality businesses will struggle to make it through to next spring. What the sector really needs now is the introduction of longer-term measures that can allow us to boost economic growth, namely a lower rate of VAT and further business rates relief.”