News item | 25-02-2022 | 15:45
The cabinet wants to ensure that people with a low income receive the one-off allowance for energy costs as soon as possible. Minister Schouten for Poverty Policy, Participation and Pensions has therefore sent the bill that regulates this to the Council of State for advice.
Minister Schouten: ‘Households with a low income have an extra hard time due to the high energy prices. Municipalities want to be able to help these households quickly with the allowance to prevent them from getting into further trouble. Reason for me to speed up this bill as much as possible.’
About 800,000 households with an income at or just above the social minimum receive about 200 euros to help them pay their energy bill. People with social assistance benefits will soon receive the amount automatically from their municipality. Other eligible groups can register with their municipality. This concerns, for example, people entitled to AOW without a supplementary pension, people with an IOW benefit and the self-employed and workers with a low income. The cabinet has earmarked 200 million euros for this.
At the end of last year, the cabinet already earmarked 3.2 billion euros for lowering the energy tax. Households with an average consumption therefore pay more than 400 euros less in energy tax on an annual basis.
The Council of Ministers has agreed to send the bill to the Council of State for advice. The text of the bill and the advice of the Council of State will be made public when it is submitted to the House of Representatives.