Chancellor plans major intervention to help poorer UK households with rising energy bills

Exclusive: Officials working on further radical changes that would change how much energy companies could charge customers

John Healey is considering a major intervention to cut energy bills for poorer households at this month's budget, after ministers became alarmed at forecasts which show bills rising by hundreds of pounds in January.

The chancellor is working on plans to spend more than 1bn to help energy consumers, the bulk of which is likely to go towards increasing the discount given to households on certain benefits.