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More Restaurants and Pubs Will Get Energy Support After Government Rows Back

It has pushed back the date after which signed contracts are eligible for financial relief after heavy criticism

Some money sitting on top of an energy bill
The support will not entirely insulate businesses from price rises.
Li Ying/Xinhua via Getty Images

The government has introduced the Energy Prices Bill to Parliament, which will enact financial support for restaurants, pubs, cafes, and bars affected by soaring energy bills. It will be backdated to account for bills in October, and will run to at least March 2023.

Its formal announcement includes positive news for those businesses, by extending the remit of the support to include energy contracts signed since 31 December 2021. The original plan, announced by Prime Minister Liz Truss in September, had only covered contracts signed over April 2022.

While the scheme is set to lessen the financial pain caused by rising prices, it cannot relieve it entirely. The support will not insulate restaurants from bills that have already doubled; going from a very very high price to a very high price still puts longer term financial pressure on places that are still recovering from the impact of COVID-19 and paying off associated support loans. Winter, after all, is still coming.

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