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divdiv class=story-body readability=45 span class=story-date#13; span class=date30 November 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time16:06 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1The coalition government has outlined its proposals to reduce energy bills in the wake of rising costs./p#13; pPrime Minister David Cameron and his deputy, Nick Clegg, said their plans would cut bills by an average of £50, in an article in the Sun on Sunday./p#13; pThey said the government would pay for some measures currently included in bills and the cost of insulating homes would be spread over a longer period./p#13; pLabour has called the government's energy policy a shambles./p#13; pIts leader Ed Miliband has said that should his party win the next election, it would freeze gas and electricity bills for 20 months./p#13; span class=cross-headDiscounts for poorest/span#13; pBut in the Sun on Sunday article, Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg also attacked Labour's energy plans, saying they would reduce energy bills without taking any help away from poor families or sacrificing our green commitments./p#13; pThey said that the two million poorest families who currently receive a discount on gas and electricity will continue to do so, but the government would pay for the discount, instead of it being included on energy bills./p#13; pThat will reduce annual bills by approximately £12, the BBC understands./p#13; div class=story-feature wide readability=9#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_2Continue reading the main story/a h2Analysis/h2#13; !-- pullout-items--#13; #13; !-- pullout-body--#13; pThe news from the prime minister that the government's energy efficiency programme will now concentrate on schemes that offer best value for money will be broadly welcomed./p#13; pBut there is anger among green groups that the overall budget for saving energy and bills is being cut, whilst other capital schemes which increase CO2 emissions - like new roads - will still go ahead./p#13; pEnergy experts have been aghast at the recent turmoil over policy. /p#13; pA government green business adviser, Peter Young from the Aldersgate Group, has written to the PM warning that in their attempt to drive bills down, politicians may be forcing bills up./p#13; pThis is because investors needed to supply £100bn to renew the UK's electricity network may face higher interest rates because of lack of a stable policy./p#13; #13; !-- pullout-links--#13; /div p id=story_continues_2The money to pay for the discount would be paid for from extra tax money brought in from cracking down on tax avoidance, they wrote./p#13; pAnd they confirmed a BBC report from earlier this week, that the cost to energy firms of insulating homes - apart from in the worst off homes - will be spread over a longer time period - thought to now be increased from two years to four, up to 2017./p#13; pThey said the proposal would reduce people's bills, but did not specify by how much./p#13; pRepresentatives of the insulation industry have told the BBC they fear this will mean significant job losses./p#13; pThe Association for the Conservation of Energy said from what it has seen of the government plans it anticipates around 10,000 jobs will be lost because they believe the change represents a halving of the budget for the work they carry out./p#13; span class=cross-headGovernment 'hoodwinked'/span#13; pAndrew Warren from the Association for Conservation of Energy told the BBC: It beggars belief that the government is trying to cut energy bills by delaying a scheme that itself cuts energy bills. /p#13; pThe government has been hoodwinked by the Big Six energy firms, who don't want to insulate people's homes because it means less profits for them./p#13; pMr Cameron and Mr Clegg said the government would also pay for new incentives for people to insulate their homes. /p#13; pThey wrote: Alongside the Green Deal, when you buy a new home, you could get up to £1,000 from Government to spend on important energy-saving measures - equivalent to half the stamp duty on the average house - or even more for particularly expensive measures. /p#13; pIt's an all-round win: better insulation means cheaper bills; it's how we cut carbon emissions; and it will boost British businesses who provide these services./p#13; pIn addition, landlords will be offered cash incentives to insulate their least energy-efficient properties between old tenants leaving and new ones moving in./p#13; pGovernment sources have not given a detailed breakdown of the figures, saying specific details will be announced by Chancellor George Osborne in his Autumn Statement in Parliament on Thursday./p#13; pMr Cameron and Mr Clegg also strongly criticised Labour in the article, saying the opposition's plan to freeze energy bills is taking people for fools./p#13; pEnergy companies would hike up prices both before and after the freeze - so families would end up paying more. Not only that - by cutting investment in green energy, their freeze would threaten thousands of jobs, they wrote./p#13; #13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center