Healey weighs removing standing charges on gas bills

Chancellor John Healey is looking at cutting standing charges on gas bills as part of the government s push to cut household energy costs, the Prime Minister has announced.  Speaking in the House of Commons today, Andy Burnham said he had asked the Chancellor and the energy secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, to consider stripping “unfair” standing charges from bills. Standing charges are fixed daily amounts that gas firms apply on energy bills and do not vary by usage. The average UK standing charge is around 30p per day, or £103.32 a year. The costs go towards infrastructure and other operations costs, with the energy regulator Ofgem setting a cap on how much can be charged across different regions given varying costs of supplying gas. Burnham told the House of Commons he would look to address the additional costs facing Britons although he did not explain what he meant by “unfair”. His comments came after the government green-lit further gas drilling at Jackdaw, which could beg