Help is coming for energy-intensive businesses struggling with the rising cost of power, the prime minister has said.

Speaking at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference in Birmingham, Rishi Sunak said that government support would be more targeted to those who are most in need.

Mr Sunak said he recognised that things have been “horrendously difficult” for energy-intensive businesses over the past year and said details of help would be published “in due course”.

He added: “I know it has been tough, as a first thing to say if you’re an energy-intensive business, the last six months, 12 months, have been horrendously difficult.

“That’s why we’ve put in place, as you know, an enormous amount of support – something like £55bn to help both families and businesses between now and the end of the financial year.

“Going forward after that, given the circumstances, it’s right, responsible, that we adjust how that support works.

“It will be more targeted at those businesses that need our help the most and that’s something that the chancellor is working on as we speak, and we’ll publish more plans in due course.

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“We recognise a particular issue with a group of industries who are very reliant on energy that we need to make sure we have a plan for, and so you can expect the chancellor to address that.”

Energy-intensive businesses include things like steel and paper mills, glass and ceramics.

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