28th October 2026
The UK Government is expected to announce a cut to gas standing charges in its Budget on Wednesday, offering some relief to households connected to the mains gas network. But for many people in the Highlands and other rural areas, the measure will do nothing to reduce their heating bills.
Standing charges are paid every day, regardless of how much gas a household uses. Under the current price cap, the average gas standing charge is around 29.7p a day, equivalent to about £108 a year. Reports ahead of the Budget suggest the proposed change could save a typical household around £27 a year, although the final details will need to be confirmed.
The problem is that households without mains gas cannot benefit from a cut to a gas standing charge they do not pay.
Across Caithness and Sutherland, many homes rely on heating oil rather than mains gas. Others use electricity, LPG or other fuels. These households face their own energy costs, and oil users in particular can be exposed to sudden price rises when international markets are disrupted.
The scale of the issue extends well beyond the Highlands. The House of Commons Library estimates that 4.8 million homes across Great Britain were off the gas grid in 2024. In Scotland, the 2022 Census found that 5.1% of households used oil as their only form of central heating.
There is a wider question of fairness. A reduction in gas standing charges may be welcome for those who receive it, but it does not provide equal help to households whose heating arrangements reflect where they live. Rural homes can also be larger, harder to insulate and more expensive to heat.
If the Government wants to ease the pressure on household energy bills, it needs to consider how support can reach people using different fuels, including those who depend on heating oil. Otherwise, a measure presented as help with the cost of energy risks leaving many rural households watching from the sidelines.
For Caithness and Sutherland, the important question is not simply how much gas customers might save, but what equivalent help is available to households that have no mains gas connection at all.
The proposal is expected to move at least some of the cost from the daily standing charge into the price per unit of gas. However, the precise arrangements have not yet been confirmed. The BBC reported on 21 October that the government had not published the implementation details.
The distinction matters:
- Low gas users could save money because they would no longer pay the fixed daily charge, or would pay a lower one.
- High gas users could pay more if the unit rate rises sufficiently to recover the costs removed from standing charges.
- Households using heating oil would not benefit directly from a change to gas charges.
The independent research organisation Nesta estimates that abolishing the gas standing charge and transferring its cost to unit rates could save a typical household around £27 a year, with approximately 63% of dual-fuel households better off under its model. That is an estimate, not a confirmed government saving.
BUT
Anyu saving may be wiped out by the rise in the price cap from 1 January 2027.