Energy support for businesses welcomed

The long-awaited announcement that the government will provide extra energy support for businesses has been very much welcomed by the UK’s SMEs.

However, there are still concerns for those who fall outside the scope, or where the help is not sufficient enough. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is urging that the government and energy providers make note of this, perhaps introducing a discretionary funding pot, similar to the £150 million created for those households who don’t pay council tax.

The FSB suggests that the remainder of the Covid Additional Relief Fund (due to be taken back by the Treasury next week) could be used for this purpose.

Commenting on the Business Secretary’s announcement, Tina McKenzie, Policy and Advocacy Chair, FSB, said, “This is a substantial move and will likely be of considerable help to small firms which have been crying out for months for measures to limit the pain caused by spiralling energy prices. Today’s announcement will give certainty for the next six months, but a tough year remains ahead of many small firms.”

Tina added, “Many have been waiting for details on the energy bills support package to plan confidently for the winter and beyond, so it’s encouraging to have the clarity from Government on the form that its support will take. The next stage will be for small businesses to learn what the changes mean for their current contracts and for any offers they have been looking at but waiting to decide what to do.

“Subsidising the unit costs of electricity and gas for six months is welcome, but there are those who miss out from before the six-month period, and help must not result in a cliff-edge afterwards. We are calling for a hardship fund to be created for those who fall outside of the current support, or for whom the current support will be insufficient.

“There will be hardship for some businesses which signed fixed contracts after prices rose but before April, who find themselves excluded from the scheme. FSB calls on energy suppliers to allow those customers to switch without charge to new fixed contracts, covered by the Energy Supported Price, if that makes the difference for the small business to survive.”

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