The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) published analysis on 26 June 2023 of the cost of UK government energy and cost of living support measures in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and their impact on household incomes1. The analysis covers the measures in 2022 and 2023 and applies to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales1.
DLUHC states that the package of measures will be worth around £7 billion in Scotland, £3.7 billion in Wales and £2.1 billion in Northern Ireland, to help households and businesses with the impact of soaring energy prices in 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 20241.
| Nation | Estimated value of support |
|---|---|
| Scotland | around £7 billion |
| Wales | around £3.7 billion |
| Northern Ireland | around £2.1 billion |
The department says all households were provided with support, but that the poorest households gained the most, and that the average level of support was most generous in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland1. Yearly disposable incomes of the poorest tenth of households in the three nations were propped up by over 20% through the measures, which DLUHC describes as the equivalent of two extra months of net pay for the poorest households in the UK nations1. The average household in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland gained between 7.0% and 8.8% of annual income, equivalent to around one extra month of net pay1.
"All households were provided with support, but the poorest households gained the most. The average level of support was most generous in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland."
The publication does not set out the individual measures included in the totals, nor a breakdown of the figures by measure or by household type, and no such breakdown has been reported1.
Why it matters for households
The figures describe support delivered through UK-wide mechanisms, which is the route by which most household energy bill help reaches homes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, where energy policy is partly devolved and separate grant schemes also operate. The analysis puts a cash value on that UK-level support and states how much of household income it represented, which is the measure of how far it offset rising prices rather than a statement about bills themselves.
For a household's energy independence, the relevance is the scale of the temporary cushion relative to income. A gain of between 7.0% and 8.8% of annual income for the average household, and over 20% for the poorest tenth, indicates how much of the cost of energy was carried by public spending in those years rather than by the household. It does not change the underlying differences in grants and support between the four nations, which continue to shape what a home can access for measures such as insulation or heating upgrades.
What happens next
The analysis covers 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 20241. No further publication, update or review date is given on the page, which was published on 26 June 20231.