Newsletter October 25th, 2022

Off-Peak Power Discounts Are Being Increased by National Grid

If households avoid high-power activities such as cooking while demand is high, they will be rewarded ￡3 per kilowatt hour rather than 52p.

Octopus and E.On argued the 52p incentive to entice people to sign up was insufficient. National Grid warned in early October that scheduled power outages might be necessary if gas supplies ran out.

The programme, which National Grid hopes to start in November, will be limited to houses equipped with smart metres.

To assist, the government first stated that it would limit energy bill increases for all households for two years beginning in October. This assistance, however, is set to expire in April after being cut by current chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

According to one researcher, typical family energy expenditures might exceed ￡4,347 per year as of April.

During the testing of the programme, Octopus credited participating clients' energy accounts. It also included a "self-refund option," via which users could have the money they saved by reducing peak-hour usage remitted to their bank accounts.

New Subsidy Control System to Boost UK Economy

The new system for regulating company subsidies will go into effect on January 4, Business Minister Dean Russell stated on the?20th of October, offering a significant boost to firms and adding fuel to the government's objectives to turbocharge economic development.

Under the new guidelines, devolved administrations and local authorities can offer subsidies suited to local requirements. The new framework gives the flexibility needed to ensure that assistance reaches those in need as soon as possible.

Public authorities can rapidly and easily assist viable enterprises in their region, giving excellent value to the British public while ensuring Britain's businesses can contribute to economic growth.

Under the EU system, all subsidies, except those covered by a 'Block Exemption Regulation,' had to go through a lengthy bureaucratic process of being informed to and authorised by the European Commission in advance, delaying essential money from reaching viable enterprises on time.

The adoption of this regime follows a comprehensive consultation on the proposed strategy, with input from stakeholders throughout the UK.

The new rules will prevent excessive government guarantees to firms and subsidies offered to 'ailing or bankrupt' corporations with no realistic restructuring plan. It will also help the UK satisfy its international obligations on subsidy management, particularly those made at the World Trade Organization.

Watchdog: 8 million People in the UK are in Financial Difficulty

According to the City watchdog, millions of individuals in the UK are failing to pay their expenses, with an increasing proportion of the population trying to make ends meet.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) poll revealed the impact of the cost-of-living issue, showing that one in every four people in the UK was either in financial hardship or would be if they experienced a financial setback.

The FCA discovered that over 7.8 million people were finding it difficult to pay their bills, a rise of almost 2.5 million people in 2020, as wage growth failed to keep up with skyrocketing inflation reaching 40-year highs, presently at 10.1%.

Meanwhile, 4.2 million individuals skipped bills or repayments in the six months following?the study.

Financial difficulties were focused on poor places across the UK, with those in economically distressed areas nearly seven times more likely than their peers to be in financial problems.

Around 12% of respondents in the north-east and 10% in the north-west felt financially stressed, compared to 6% in the south-east and south-west.

The data came from the FCA's financial life survey, which interviewed over 19,000 individuals and will be released in full in early 2023.

EU Neighbours Keen for More UK Stability

Following Liz Truss' resignation after just six weeks in office, French President Emmanuel Macron and Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin expressed optimism that the new British minister will bring stability to the nation.

Privately, several EU ambassadors have admitted to feeling a little glee at the political unrest in Britain, which left the EU in 2020 with unresolved split issues.

However, when word of Truss' departure spread, leaders spoke to the media soon before an EU meeting and offered their sympathies.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he and Truss had reached an agreement on several topics and that her replacement would be the sixth British minister he would work with during his tenure.

Others voiced optimism that the successor will be a reliable ally as Europe grapples with Russia's invasion of Ukraine and record-high energy prices.

Read French President Emmanuel Macron and Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin's?comments here.