Energy policy dominated the Autumn Budget, with Chancellor John Healey announcing relief on household bills alongside commitments on grid connections and clean power. Industry leaders welcomed the short-term measures but argued they must be matched by long-term reform, investment in skills and faster grid connections.
Gas standing charges will be scrapped from 2027 “or as soon as possible after”, VAT will be removed from domestic electricity bills until 1 July 2027, and around 20 million households in council tax bands A to D will receive a £100 Household Energy Payment this winter. Healey also promised cheaper, faster grid connections, though he said this “won’t happen overnight”, and that policy costs would no longer be added to bills through levies. A £2 billion Energy Wealth Fund, announced the previous week to channel North Sea revenues into clean energy projects, was confirmed in the Budget.
EV charging funding and the ‘driveway divide’
The government will direct £100 million across 2027-28 and 2028-29 towards cutting prices at existing local, lower-powered public chargepoints, with support beginning in spring 2027. A new taskforce will examine whether drivers without off-street parking could use their home electricity tariff at local chargers, following the government-commissioned Cost of Public Electric Vehicle Charging Review published alongside the Budget. VAT on public charging remains at 20%, and the Depot Charging Scheme has reopened with a further £38 million for chargers for electric trucks, vans and coaches.
Oliver Brighton, CFO of chargepoint operator char.gy, said households without driveways treat charging as a street-level service rather than a motorway stop, and that councils already know where chargers are needed but require freedom and long-term funding certainty to install them at scale. He described the devolution measures as an opportunity for greater local flexibility over investment, allowing councils to move beyond piecemeal projects towards neighbourhood-wide programmes delivered with private operators. Ben Nelmes, CEO of New AutoMotive, said it was unfair that drivers unable to charge at home pay significantly more for electricity, and that work to let them use their home tariff locally must move at pace to end what he called Britain’s “driveway divide”.
Simon Smith, CEO of Voltempo, said the depot question is not about asking for more money but about making public investment work harder: electric trucks can deliver significant running-cost savings, but hauliers can only unlock them if their depots have the power to support them. He warned that funding chargers without the infrastructure to run them risks leaving businesses with equipment they cannot use, and called for support covering the full cost of making depots electric-ready, alongside recognition of grid connection delays.
Tanya Sinclair, CEO of Electric Vehicles UK, said the Chancellor had addressed immediate pressure on household budgets but could not claim to be helping motorists while making the switch to electric harder and more expensive. She noted that electric motoring already helps drivers escape volatile pump prices, and argued that policy barriers keeping public charging unnecessarily expensive — particularly for those without driveways — should be tackled, while warning that weakening the ZEV mandate would undermine the competition and investment needed to bring affordable electric cars to market.
Tax measures for contractors
For contractors running their own businesses, the main rate first-year allowance on plant and machinery rises from 40% to 50%. Business mileage rates above 10,000 miles rise from 25p to 35p, and the 5p fuel duty cut is extended to July 2027. The National Living Wage will rise by 3.9% to £13.20 an hour from April 2027. The lifetime limit on Business Asset Disposal Relief, used when selling a business, halves from £1 million to £500,000 from April 2027.
A £700 million AI package and a commitment to a more business-friendly visa system for high-skilled workers were also announced.
Skills, digitalisation and North Sea investment
David Hall, zone president UK & Ireland at Schneider Electric, said putting energy at the centre of the Budget recognised the pressure high energy costs place on UK industry, constraining competitiveness and investment. Removing standing charges, VAT cuts and cheaper EV charging were important steps, he said, but immediate relief must be matched by long-term reform that lowers the structural cost of energy; businesses need confidence to invest in infrastructure and energy management systems that help them understand consumption, cut waste and manage demand more effectively.
On skills, Hall said delivery of the Budget’s industrial growth, energy reform and infrastructure ambitions depends on access to the skills needed to build, operate and maintain increasingly electrified and connected systems. He welcomed the pro-business, high-skilled visa commitment but said it needs to be matched by targeted investment in further-education colleges, high-quality apprenticeships and flexible retraining, working with devolved and local leaders.
On AI, Hall said the £700 million package, including support for the Sovereign AI Unit and locally led adoption, reinforces how central AI is to the UK growth strategy. He cited company research finding that 48% of UK industrial leaders see profitability and efficiency as a leading incentive for adopting autonomous technologies, while only 8% have reached full autonomy, and argued that AI support must sit alongside reliable energy infrastructure and accessible digital-adoption help for smaller firms.
George Morrison, CEO of offshore engineering firm Aquaterra Energy, called for approval of the Rosebank field following the go-ahead for Jackdaw. He said tax policy must support the investment that generates North Sea revenues if the Energy Wealth Fund is to be financed from them, and noted the Chancellor’s confirmation that Jackdaw will add an estimated £2.9 billion to the UK economy. Morrison said a credible pipeline of projects gives businesses confidence to develop workforces and invest in capabilities, and that companies need visibility of work beyond the next contract to commit to long-term investment in the UK.