Budget 2026: John Healey offers £100 payment to households to help navigate ‘global economic storms’

Cash to 20m households part of package to help cut energy bills and ease cost-of-living crisis

John Healey promised to steer Britain through “global economic storms,” as he announced a package of measures to cut consumers’ energy bills in his first budget.

The chancellor said 20m households in council tax bands A to D would receive a £100 payment – a measure he said would cost £2.6bn. A VAT cut on electricity bills will be extended to next July, added Healey.

As widely expected, Healey cancelled fuel duty rises pencilled in by Rachel Reeves and announced he would echo her approach of shifting energy levies on to general taxation.