The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) has welcomed the renewed commitment from the Chancellor that equivalent support under the energy bills support scheme will be delivered to households in Northern Ireland

East Belfast Ulster Unionist Party MLA and Communities Spokesperson, Andy Allen MBE said: "Since the energy bills support scheme was announced by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, I have been pressing for detail on when and how the equivalent support is to be delivered to households in Northern Ireland. It is therefore welcome, if long overdue, that the Chancellor is meeting with Northern Ireland Ministers to discuss how the financial support can be rolled out in the absence of a power-sharing Executive.

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"Quite frankly, a mechanism to deliver this much-needed support should have already been in place or, at the very least, at the advanced stages. It would appear this is not the case, which needs to be proactively addressed.

"Furthermore, I would again call on the energy providers across Northern Ireland to step up to the mark by providing support. This could be in the form of charitable donations to deliver support or further help to assist households with energy efficiency measures.

"We need to work both collectively and proactively to ensure that we provide support to households across Northern Ireland which helps them to be able to eat, keep the lights on, stay warm and most importantly, prevent harm."