Written Question·Treasury·UIN 190208

Small Businesses: Energy

Tabled: 19 June 2023
Answered: 26 June 2023

Question

Saqib Bhatti

ConservativeMeriden and Solihull East

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to support small and medium-sized businesses in Meriden constituency with energy prices.

Answer

Gareth Davies

The Government remains committed to supporting the whole business sector including small and medium sized businesses. The Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) provides all eligible businesses and other non-domestic energy users with a discount on high energy bills for 12 months from 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2024. It also provides businesses in sectors with particularly high levels of energy use and trade intensity with a higher level of support.

This follows the unprecedented package of support for non-domestic users last winter provided through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. The Government has been clear that such levels of support, unprecedented in its nature and huge scale, were time-limited and intended as a bridge to allow businesses to adapt.