CASH-STRAPPED Britons will be squeezed for an extra £66 every month from April as a barrage of bill hikes sees the cost-of-living crisis bite.

Millions of hard-up households, already paying what MPs said were “world-beatingly” high bills, will be forced to shell out even more for essentials from Tuesday. 

GMB union urged ministers to take bold steps to help working people facing across-the-board price rises for energy, water, council tax, internet, road tax and the TV licence.

“Households have been struggling with the cost-of-living crisis for several years now,” said the union’s national secretary Andy Prendergast. “This latest set of increases shows there still isn’t any light at the end of the tunnel. 

“The government must take bold steps to put money in people’s pockets,” he thundered. “We can’t go on with billionaires getting ever richer whilst working people suffer.”

Furthermore, Parliament’s spending watchdog has criticised the government’s response to spikes in energy price spikes.

In a public accounts committee report published today, MPs said that Britain’s electricity bills in 2023 were the highest among comparable countries, with consumers owing £3.7 billion for gas and electricity in 2024, more than double the amount in 2021.

The committee urged the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to improve support for households vulnerable to fuel poverty and create a clear plan and timeline for policy decisions to make bills cheaper.

Commitee chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: “Sharp moves in energy prices in the future must find government fully prepared to issue targeted and effective support, with those most in need the focus of that support.

“We cannot see a repetition of precious funds being beamed out across the spectrum to those who do not require help.”

Average energy bills are to rise by 6.4 per cent from April 1 after regulator Ofgem increased its price cap for a third consecutive quarter.

Water bills will increase by an average £123 per year — the largest rise since the industry was privatised in 1989.

Most councils in England are planning to raise council tax bills by the maximum 4.99 per cent next month.

Broadband and phone bills are also rising, while the cost of a TV licence and the standard rate of car tax are both going up by £5, with electric vehicles no longer exempt.

Cat Hobbs, founder and director of public service campaign group We Own It, said: “With bill hikes across many essential services this spring, it looks like the cost-of-living crisis is sadly here to stay.

“The word ‘essential’ is important here. Heat, shelter, water — these are all things that we need to survive and none of them are getting cheaper.

“Water is the poster-child for the failed privatisation experiment, with companies on the brink of collapse scrambling for more of our money.

“Companies that have racked up huge debts to pay dividends are now running out of other people’s cash.

“Decades of underinvestment has killed our rivers and put the whole water network at risk. 

“Modern, publicly owned services must be the goal for any progressive government.”

End Fuel Poverty Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis said: “The worst aspect of ‘awful April’ is that there is very little households can do to avoid these extra costs.

“Talk of switching energy suppliers or fixed tariffs may save a few pounds, but what we really need is proper reform and investment in boosting energy efficiency.

“This means ministers making bold decisions to reform electricity pricing so that we see the benefits of cheaper renewable energy on our bills and real reforms to standing charges rather than the piecemeal approach suggested by the regulator.

“And it means the Chancellor keeping Labour's manifesto promise to invest £13.2bn in a Warm Homes Plan to help households improve their insulation and energy efficiency.”

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “Our mission for clean power is the only way to protect UK billpayers from future price shocks.

“We will bring down bills for good by moving towards a clean, homegrown power system that we control.”