The Green Party of England and Wales says the £9bn plan could be paid for with a tax on landlords.
Image source, PA Media
Every household should be given £320 to help with “spiralling energy bills”, the Green Party of England and Wales will say as they begin their annual conference in Birmingham.
In a speech, the party’s new leaders will say the £9bn plan could be paid for with a windfall tax on all landlords of private rented properties.
Co-leader Adrian Ramsay will argue this could help people avoid fuel poverty.
The policy announcement comes amid energy price rises.
Earlier this month, around 15 million households saw their bills climb by 12%, as the energy cap was raised.
The energy regulator Ofgem has warned that the cap will go up again next April.
Addressing Green Party activists, Mr Ramsay is expected to say their proposal is “about keeping people safe”.
“It’s about the state responding to market failure, it’s about human dignity.
“Our proposal is what government should be doing to show leadership – it’s an issue which shows how climate justice and social justice go hand in hand.”
The party says it also wants to introduce a Green New Deal programme, spending £100bn on getting the UK to net zero carbon emissions by 2030 through insulation schemes and renewable energy.
Mr Ramsay will deliver the speech jointly with co-leader Carla Denyer, a Bristol city councillor.
She will say that people have “grown tired of choosing the ‘least worst’ option, of being patronised, ignored and told what to think.
“We are tired of a Tory government playing divide and rule, tired of out of touch policies which ride roughshod over people, tired of politics which amount to little more than an old boys’ club serving the interests of its pals.”
And she will accuse Labour of failing the public and failing to “take a stand on the biggest issues of the day”.
The Greens are in government in Scotland with the SNP, but their sister party in England and Wales remains a minor voice at Westminster with just one MP.
However they have had more success at the local level winning 80 more council seats during elections earlier this year.
They currently hold 447 seats on 141 different councils.
The new leadership team, elected earlier this month, have vowed to build on these electoral successes and get more Green MPs elected.