The UK Government is continuing to hand out grants to householders to help with their electricity costs during this on-going cost of living crisis.
Enter the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS). Last year (2022), all householders were eligible for a £400 grant paid in six monthly installments directly into their electricity accounts (different arrangements were put in place to pay those living on caravan sites or in care homes, etc). The problem is that householders in debt to their electricity supplier won't be able to use all—or even any—of their government handouts to help keep the lights, etc on in their homes.
For example, say you have an electricity debt of £1000. The government pays the first EBSS installment into your electricity account. You've now simply had your debt reduced by £66/£67. That's great for the electricity company but not at all for you. Were you not in debt, that £66/£67 would be paying for keeping the lights, etc on. What the government should have done is pay those installments directly to the householder, into their bank account or as cashable vouchers. It must be particularly galling for those indebted householders who had already agreed with their electricity supplier to pay down their debt in installments of whatever amount—the legal minimum is just £3.75 per week—now finding that their supplier is getting an extra £66/£67 per month as a de facto debt repayment installment.
Contrast that with the government's Cost of Living Payment scheme, paying hoseholders on welfare or otherwise low income £650 last year (2022). Split into two installments, the payments went straight into those householders' bank accounts.
Right-wingers—and our Conservative government is certainly an especially right-wing one—like to bang on about how great low tax rates are as "the individual knows better than the government how to spend his/her money". Yet here the government is handing out grants but not directly into the hands of householders; instead, directly into the hands of the electricity supliers.