LEGISLATION to cap gas and electricity bills for around 11 million households has been dismissed by Labour as a “temporary sticking plaster” that will do nothing to fix Britain’s broken energy market.

The Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill, introduced in Parliament today, would allow Ofgem to limit poor-value standard variable tariffs (SVTs) until 2020, with the option to extend the cap annually until 2023.

Households have been paying £1.4 billion a year more than needed through SVTs, a 2016 report from Competition and Markets Authority shows.