It’s being reported that all UK households are to be offered discounts to help with soaring energy bills.
With the expectation that energy regulator Ofgem is today set to announce an up to 50% rise in the energy price cap for 22 million households due to soaring wholesale gas prices, meaning the average bill could hit £1,915 a year, Chancellor Rishi Sunak is reportedly due to respond today to growing pressure for him to help millions of people who struggling with this increasing cost of living.
The chancellor is expected to announce plans for billions of pounds in state-backed loans, which will give all households a £200 discount off their energy bills.
These measures are aimed at limiting the effect of price rises from 1 April.
Taxpayers will underwrite loans to energy suppliers, with the suppliers then passing the money on to households in the form of a rebate, and the money would be recouped from consumers in the following years so the loans could be paid back as energy prices fall.
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When asked about the new support package due to be announced by the Chancellor today, a government spokesperson said: “We recognise people are facing pressures with the cost of living, which is why we are providing support worth around £12 billion this financial year and next.
“We will provide an update in due course on further help for households across the UK to meet their energy costs in the face of rising global gas prices.”
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The Bank of England is also expected to raise interest rates from 0.25% to 0.5% today, as inflation has already reached 5.4% – almost three times the target – and forecasts show it is likely to remain high through the spring.
National Irnsurance payments are also said to be increasing by 1.25 percentage points to create a new health and social care levy, and although it been previously been reported that Prime Minister Boris Johnson was reconsidering this hike, he and Mr Sunak did confirm at the end of January that this would be going ahead.
Mr Sunak is expected to announce measures to limit the impact of the Council Tax rise today, however, after The Times reported that he would confirm that more than 15 million households in bands A, B and C could be given rebates funded by government grants.
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The Treasury did not deny the plans regarding energy bills and Council Tax.
Police are searching for a missing bride-to-be, with CCTV from the day she vanished released
Daisy Jackson
Police have ramped up their appeal to find missing bride-to-be Eren Wright, releasing CCTV of her on the day she vanished.
Eren has been missing since 27 October, when she left her home address in Lytham St Annes.
Since then, her desperate fiancé has shared that her phone was last detected in Birkdale Southport at around 5.30pm that same day, and her bank accounts are empty.
He said last week in a post on Facebook: “Myself and the pets are freaking out not knowing where she is and if she is ok, she has been missing for nearly 12 hours.”
Eren was last seen just after 10am leaving her home on St David’s Road South.
She is described as white, 5’7″, slim, and with blonde hair. She also has tattoos of vines and a tree on her hand and arms.
Police have ramped up their appeal to find missing bride-to-be Eren Wright. Credit: Fylde Police
Eren was last seen wearing a light olive green hoodie with a painting on the front, beige/cream wide leg pants, and worn white trainers.
Police have now shared the new CCTV image of Eren in the hopes that someone might know where she is, or have seen her.
Fylde Police also said they were ‘worried’ about her.
If you see Eren or know where she might be, call 999 quoting log 1309 of October 27th.
Leigh drug dealer jailed after being ‘caught red-handed’ by police
Emily Sergeant
A drug dealer known around the Leigh area has been jailed last week after police caught him ‘red-handed’.
Dawid Bialek, of no fixed abode, has been jailed after pleading guilty to four counts of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine), and handling stolen goods.
It comes after, on Monday 11 May 2026, officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) who were patrolling on a canal towpath, near Quayside in Leigh, spotted 30-year-old Bialek attempting to discard a package in the water.
The package was subsequently recovered, and according to GMP, was found to contain multiple wraps of suspected Class A drugs.
Further enquiries then led police to an address in Leigh, where additional evidence linked to drug dealing was recovered – including suspected drugs, scales, empty wraps, and mobile phones.
Bialek was later bailed as police conducted further enquiries, but while that work was continuing, on Friday 19 June, officers carrying out plain-clothes patrols in the town centre saw Bialek in an alley just off the canal tow path, handing out wraps of heroin and crack cocaine to others.
He was once again stopped, searched, and found to be in possession of drugs and cash.
This time he was charged and able to be remanded. He appeared at court over the summer and plead not guilty to the charges brought against him, but as the investigation continued, examination of seized mobile phones uncovered further evidence of drug dealing activity – including messages, videos and notes consistent with the supply of Class A drugs.
Due to the quantity of evidence gathered and submitted to the CPS, Bialek changed his plea to guilty and was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court last week.
He has been jailed for a total of four years and nine months.
Following the sentencing, a spokesperson for GMP’s Leigh Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “The supply of Class A drugs causes significant harm within our communities and often exploits vulnerable people who are struggling with addiction.
“This result demonstrates our commitment to targeting those responsible for bringing drugs into Leigh and disrupting the criminality associated with them.”
The Manc -
3rd February 2022 
