Chancellor to consider removing standing charges from gas bills

Andy Burnham says he has asked the Chancellor to look at removing standing charges from gas bills.

It comes as he defended the decision to approve the Jackdaw gas field.

The average standing charge for gas is 29.68p per day, around £9 a month.

Responding to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch at Prime Minister’s Questions, he said he had made a decision that the previous Tory government “messed up”.

Burnham said: “That’s why there was the delay, because they didn’t do the process properly. And we’ve made a pragmatic decision, Mr Speaker, that will allow us to do two things.

“Firstly, build a bridge to a renewable future because the resources that come in now from this decision will allow us to invest in renewables, bring forward clean energy and in this Parliament, substantially delink gas and electricity prices so that we can bring bills down.

“It will also allow us, Mr Speaker, to do more to help people with bills. I can tell the House today that I have asked the Chancellor (John Healey) and the Energy Secretary (Miatta Fahnbulleh) to look at whether we can remove standing charges from gas bills and to report back to this House at the earliest opportunity.”

Badenoch had criticised the Labour Government for “dithering” for two-and-a-half years to approve Jackdaw, as she called for Labour to repeal its ban on all new oil and gas licences.

“We have the resources, the expertise and the people,” she said. “What we have lost is the confidence to make tough decisions”.