Gordon Brown is to give some families £100 vouchers to help them pay for heating costs, reports suggest.
Low-income families are to receive vouchers worth up to £100 each in order to help them pay for fuel bills, the Guardian reports.
The soon-to-be-unveiled plan is the central plank of a raft of new initiatives to be rolled out this autumn, as prime minister Gordon Brown attempts to help households caught up in the economic downturn. Families who currently receive child tax credits are thought to be the target group for the vouchers.
Sharp rises to energy bills announced recently, including a 35 percent increase to gas tariffs from market leader British Gas, have contributed to the move. The vouchers alone are set to cost £600 million, assuming that all child tax credit recipients are included.
Under the terms of the proposed scheme, energy firms would be paid the balance of the vouchers by the government, enabling their customers to benefit from the discount.
Speaking to Channel 4 News, Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Vince Cable termed the move a "seriously bad idea". He added: "The problem here is that the energy regulator, Ofgem, has identified the fact that the energy companies are [already] benefiting to the tune of about £10 billion over five years from being allocated free permits under the European trading scheme. It is a windfall to those companies.
"The underlying problem is that poor families pay much more for their power than better off families. If you're on meter the charges are much higher than on direct debit. They also live in badly insulated homes. The programme has to target those problems rather than flows of income."
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