Budget 2026: John Healey offers £100 payments to households to help navigate ‘global economic storms’

Payment to 20m homes part of package to help cut energy bills and ease cost-of-living crisis, paid for by bank windfall tax

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John Healey promised to steer Britain through “global economic storms,” as he announced a package of measures to cut consumers’ energy bills, funded by a smaller-than-expected windfall tax on banks.

In his first budget, the chancellor said 20m households in council tax bands A to D would receive a £100 payment – a measure he said would cost £2.6bn.