Extra £12bn ‘needed to maintain value of energy bills help’

Paul Johnson, director of the IFS, says ministers are ‘still playing catch up’

Ministers need to announce another £12 billion of help for households to keep pace with higher than expected energy prices forecast for this autumn, a leading financial think tank has warned.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the money was required if the government still wanted to provide the same level of aid it set out this spring.

The effect of that support, unveiled by the then chancellor Rishi Sunak, has shrunk as predicted energy bills skyrocket.