Prime Minister reviews gas standing charges as Martin Lewis warns of January price cap rise
The Prime Minister is reviewing gas standing charges after saying they are unfair, while Martin Lewis warns the January price cap will rise and calls for extra support.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The Prime Minister has said the government is looking at standing charges on energy bills and is considering whether they can be scrapped. At Prime Minister's Questions he made clear he does not think the charges are fair, and the focus is specifically on the gas standing charge. The government is understood to be at the start of a process, and no final decision has been announced.
Martin Lewis, the consumer campaigner, said he has campaigned against standing charges for at least five years. He said a poll he published a week ago found more than 90% of people would support cutting standing charges and moving the cost onto unit rates, with no net change overall. He described standing charges as a "poll tax on energy usage" and said they are the biggest single issue in his mailbag. He argued they act as a moral hazard because they discourage lower users from cutting their bills.
The numbers matter. Lewis said standing charges total £310 this year, of which gas is £110. He said Ofgem is already looking at the electricity standing charge, and gas is easier to change first. But he warned that Citizens Advice and he are not in sync on the issue: while many campaigners want standing charges removed, moving fixed costs to unit rates would raise the unit rate and could hurt some households. He said energy is generally regressive, so moving a fixed cost away is broadly progressive, but there will be losers, with some losing perhaps £20 to £30 a year. He suggested pairing a gas standing charge cut with extra support, such as doubling the Warm Home Discount, which is worth about £150, so vulnerable households are not worse off. He said an announcement could come next week, with the change taking effect in April or possibly July.
The timing is sensitive. Lewis said the January price cap looks set to rise by 26% to 27%, a large increase that would add about 0.6 percentage points to inflation. That has intensified calls for a support mechanism alongside any reform. The political discussion has also raised wider fairness questions. It was asked whether a fairer system would replace the fixed charge with a proportion of the gas actually used, or whether energy company profits should help pay for network costs. It was also asked whether it is fair to change gas bills but not do the same for people with all-electric heating. The government has presented the move as the start of a process, with details still to be settled.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Reported by all 2 channels | ||
| At PMQs, the government said it was looking at scrapping gas standing charges, which the Prime Minister called unfair, and described this as the start of a process. | ||
| Only on one channel | ||
| Gas standing charges account for £110 of a £310 annual total this year. | Not reported by BBC News | |
| Lewis is expected to make an announcement next week. | Not reported by BBC News | |
| Questions were raised over whether the change should also cover all-electric heating. | Not reported by ITV | |
| The January price cap is expected to rise by 26% to 27%. | Not reported by BBC News | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
ITV1 Peston gave Martin Lewis a long interview focused on the consumer mechanics of standing charges. It dwelt on his five-year campaign, the poll showing over 90% support, the split between gas and electricity charges, and how a cut could be paired with extra support. The tone was sympathetic to reform but alert to the losers and to the January price cap.
- “It's a poll tax on energy usage.”
- “I've campaigned against standing charges at such a rate for at least five years now”
- “the standing charges in total are £310 this year, gas is £110”
BBC Newscast treated the PMQs signal as a review rather than a firm policy. It pressed on what 'unfair' means, whether network costs should fall on energy company profits, and why gas is being singled out while all-electric heating is not. It framed the move as a consumer message ahead of the Budget, with the bigger energy security arguments in the background.
- “they're gonna go into a review they're gonna give it a look”
- “they talk about the unfair standing charges so what does unfair mean”
- “is it fair to take this money off people's gas bills but not do the same for people who have all electric heating”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.