Businesses may face weeks of delay over energy bills support, No 10 says

theguardian.com:

Businesses may face a delay of several weeks in accessing the financial support promised to them by Liz Truss to help ease the burden of spiralling energy bills this winter, Downing Street has admitted.

Amid reports that the package for businesses would not be in place by 1 October, the prime minister’s spokesperson said there could be a “delay of weeks” but insisted companies would receive backdated payments.

They said this was not due to the 10-day national mourning period after the Queen’s death, but because businesses did not have a price-cap system, unlike households, meaning that a “brand new” scheme was having to be constructed.

The government has contacted energy firms and their representatives to urge them not to cut off the supplies of companies unable to pay their energy bills, if the support does take longer to arrive than hoped.

“We will confirm further details for the business support scheme next week,” Truss’s spokesperson told journalists on Wednesday, after reports emerged in the Financial Times about a delay. They added that they recognised there was “concern about the support” but promised it would arrive before November.

Pressed on whether the scheme would begin from 1 October, when the energy price cap for households will in effect freeze average annual bills at £2,500, the spokesperson said: “I don’t have a set date for you right now. It may come in parallel with the household support scheme.

“If there is a delay … we will backdate it to cover October energy bills so that businesses don’t miss out.”

Alhough it is likely the business support will require legislation in order to be enacted, the spokesperson said the government was “still working through exactly” whether or not that would be necessary.

Truss