Cost of living: Families still be squeezed despite falling energy costs say MLAs

The DUP MLA said: “Whilst energy prices have come down, working families paying childcare and working full time, are struggling to pay the bills.

"We have been pressing the Government to help working families, who don’t qualify for universal credit, with their childcare costs because those costs are forcing parents out of work.

"We have also urged the Government to pursue energy saving measures whether that is solar panels or insulation which working families can install in their home which will give multiyear benefit to their cost of living but also to energy sustainability.”

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said tomorrow’s energy price rises will drive households “over a financial cliff edge” as he called for the nationalisation of the energy sector.

“The end of the Energy Price Guarantee spells disaster for working class households,” he said.

“People will be driven over a financial cliff edge thanks to the wilful negligence of the Tory government.

“This administration refused to implement a windfall tax on energy giants, refused to properly curb energy prices, and provided no financial aid to households here during the worst winter in a generation."

Their comments come as the Consumer Council is urging electricity and gas customers to shop around, due to significant price changes from tomorrow.

The consumer watchdog was speaking as the UK government is removing the last level of consumer support that it rolled out in November 2022.

The Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) Scheme was introduced in Northern Ireland to help households with high energy prices – which were in large part caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The EPG applied a discount to the unit rate of electricity and gas tariffs, which meant that energy bills have been lower than they should have been under normal market conditions for the last 10 months.

However, as the cost of wholesale energy has gradually reduced, so the government has gradually slashed the level of support it is providing.

The support was first reduced in January and again in April, with the final cut – from tomorrow – reducing government support to zero.