Burnham's new snub to the South East: How Labour's £100 energy bailout will mainly go to the North

John Healey's £100 handout for families to help cover heating bills this winter will pour more money into Labour-supporting areas of the North and Midlands, figures suggest.The Chancellor yesterday used the Budget to announce people living in houses in council tax bands A, B, C and D will get the money automatically put into their bank accounts to help with the cost of living. The payment will be made in January at a cost of £2.6billion to taxpayers.Typical annual energy bills are expected to reach £1,750 after Government support in 2026-27.That compares with £1,685 paid during the 2022-23 energy price jump after Russia invaded Ukraine.Analysis of council tax band data by the Mail suggests that while around nine-in-ten homes in the North East, North West and Yorkshire are eligible for the payment, that falls to 71 per cent in the South East and 69 per cent in London.Local authority-level data shows that in some areas almost all homes will be eligible, including Stoke-on-Trent (97.65 per cent), Sandwell (97.33 per cent), Nottingham (96.86 per cent), Hyndburn (96.46 per cent) and Boston (96.22 per cent).But in parts of the South East the proportion is below 50 per cent, including in Elmbridge (41.12 per cent) and Mole Valley (43.7 per cent) and Tandridge (46.3 per cent) in Surrey, St Albans (49.01 per cent) in Hertfordshire and Windsor and Maidenhead (49.77 per cent) in Berkshire.Find out the proportion of homes in your local area that will be eligible for the payment using the map below. Prime Minister Andy Burnham defended the payment as 'real help' when people 'need it most' today amid criticism it will barely dent soaring billsPrime Minister Andy Burnham defended the payment as 'real help' when people 'need it most' today amid criticism it will barely dent soaring bills. Campaigners and think tanks have described it as badly targeted and too small to protect households from the energy costs rise predicted for January.The Left-leaning Resolution Foundation think-tank said it was 'a terribly, badly targeted kind of support' as there 'are lots of people who are doing OK who probably can manage without that money, and probably need to manage without that money if we're going to support the people we need to support at a time when we don't have a lot of money to throw around in the first place'.But the Prime Minister defended the decision to extend the support to 'the vast majority' of Britons.Asked about the criticism of the measure during a Thursday visit to a Rolls-Royce factory in Derby, Mr Burnham said: 'We're very focused on giving families as much breathing space as we possibly can.'Often with a budget, people would have come home from work and said, 'Well, this doesn't help me. It's always for somebody else.''Well, if you're going to give that support to people in council tax bands A to D, that gets to the vast majority of the country.'It is help, real help that will land in people's bank accounts in January.'He also said ministers were 'constantly' working to ease the cost of living as he pointed to a string of other announcements.He said: 'We're doing more beyond that.'We've taken VAT off electricity bills, which will help people; £2 cap on bus fares next year and we're going to take standing charges off gas bills.'So, the idea that I'm building out here is we just do a step here, a step there, constantly doing what we can to take pressure off families.'But 20 million British households getting support with that council tax rebate early in the new year, I think it will really help people just when they need it most.'Chancellor John Healey announced in Wednesday's Budget that the VAT cut on electricity bills was to be extended to July, and gas standing charges are to be shifted to unit rates, with similar reforms to follow for electricity bills.Ofgem's price cap rose by 3.6 per cent to £1,723 for a typical household on October 1, with a further rise of about 22 per cent forecast in January.The Resolution Foundation said the Budget's policies would not prevent energy bills from jumping above levels seen during the last energy shock.The End Fuel Poverty Coalition said the £100 payment would 'barely dent' the predicted rise households face in January and that 'because it is paid directly into household accounts in England, it may not even be spent on staying warm this winter'.Questioned on the method chosen for distributing the money, Mr Burnham's spokesman told reporters: 'We're offering support for households struggling with their energy bills through the council tax system because it's the quickest way to get money to the families who need it.'Renters paying council tax will get the rebate, while landlords renting out their property and people's second homes will not.The payment will be automatic and there is an established system for identifying eligible households, according to officials.