The Telegraph may reveal that No. 10 and the Undersecretary of State’s team were pushing for an extension of the Energy Company Obligation (Eco) program to be included in Thursday’s energy security strategy. The Eco program uses money raised from a contribution to energy bills to pay for improvements in the energy efficiency of homes for poorer households. The proposal was for the Ministry of Finance to put in around 200 200 million a year in extra money from taxpayers, so that the 1 1 billion program could be extended beyond those receiving benefits. Tens of thousands of households would have benefited and the move would have been supported by the government as a boost to reducing the cost of living. However, Rishi Sunak is considered to have rejected the calls, as the Treasury Department remains steadfast in the spending agreements reached last autumn for the next three years.
“The Ministry of Finance does not believe in the plan”
The denial has left some in Whitehall who support the plan. A senior government official said: “We could say to households: ‘We are on your side, we want you to reduce your bills.’ “But the Ministry of Finance does not believe in that.” The source added that the Ministry of Finance continued to draw lines from the energy strategy that had an impact on spending, despite support from Number 10 and the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Industrial Strategy – calling the situation “ridiculous”. However, an ally of Mr Sunak reacted on Tuesday night, saying: “We have to look at every extra penny of taxpayer money proposed for spending because we end up wanting to be conservative and cut taxes on people.” The energy security strategy, which promises to chart the way the UK achieves energy independence, has been delayed for weeks amid controversy between the number 10 and the number 11 over how ambitious it is to make new commitments to nuclear energy. Mr Sunak has been clear for months about his concerns about the size of Britain’s debt and high debt repayments as interest rates rise, creating tensions with a prime minister who is more willing to agree on new spending. Parts of the document were still being rewritten on Tuesday night, less than 48 hours before it was scheduled to be published.
