Anyone else worried about the poor response by govt to energy prices hike?

[Graphista]

Awful response!

Very weird to link it to council tax. Very vague regarding the help for the poorest and most vulnerable

I've been trying to get through to various agencies and my council today with no luck presumably as everyone else doing the same!

Struggling to find clear info online. Especially as I'm in Scotland.

Would love to hear from anyone concerned but particularly would be good if experts in areas of budget and welfare advice could maybe provide some reassurance if they're willing and able.

Frankly I think some kind of helpline should have been setup ready to go to answer peoples queries.

This is huge and yet the govt don't really appear to be taking it that seriously imo.

@DuchessOfDodo I was watching the martin Lewis show last night - I thought he showed considerable restraint when interviewing sunak even though it was clear he thinks the man is a useless bloody idiot!!

With NO IDEA what its like scrabbling down the back of the sofa for pennies to top up the meter!!

You have to email with your story of why you need it and provide documents and bank statements.

That's bloody ridiculous if only from the INSANE admin costs this will cause and probably a huge backlog too! But I'm guessing that's what Rishi is banking on - making it too Damn hard to claim!

@Dreamstate you don't see ANY irony in referencing Thatcher at all? The pm that closed all the coal mines and privatised energy?!

Wales here. I work for the L.A.
Working age Benefit claimants receive £200 winter fuel payment. There has to be a benefit in payment, you have to be personally liable for the council tax, so no landlords cannot claim it - unless they’re liable for it.
Pensioners £200 (might be £100 each if joint household).

It’s going to have devastating consequences for those families that work, earn NMW rate pay and don’t claim benefits. NI and tax are also increasing. Someone earning a low wage and working part time say £10k per year, will pay an extra £10 a month. Interest rates are going up also. Dire!

@Suzi888 it's a dreadful state of affairs all round and I can well believe this is going to be a massive headache for LA's but just in terms of administering but the knock on effects more homelessness etc

@Graphista
You are spot on. We are at breaking point, many departments are. We don’t even have the resources to cope at the moment. Zero budgets, can’t hire staff, some staff are sick, some leave and no-one is being replaced. I’m worried.

@Suzi888 how many families that work mim wage don’t claim UC? Surely it be most of
Them. So they would qualify not helpful to suggest they don’t and all out work benfit claimants do. Granted a single adult on low wage will not get any help but anyone with family on low wage would. Even if it’s only few quid towards their rent.

[quote Akire]@Suzi888 how many families that work mim wage don’t claim UC? Surely it be most of
Them. So they would qualify not helpful to suggest they don’t and all out work benfit claimants do. Granted a single adult on low wage will not get any help but anyone with family on low wage would. Even if it’s only few quid towards their rent.[/quote]
@Akire not at all. I don’t see how £200 is going to make a scrap of difference in all honesty but it’s something.
You’d be surprised. If you have two adults, earning NMW, working from home (using their own heat/light) perhaps one is part time, not everyone will qualify for assistance. Some don’t pay rent, some have mortgages. Your looking at rent of around £950 here for a two bed, as opposed to £500/600 for a mortgage on a 3 bed. Each case is unique.

Single people always struggle, they get a pittance.

Also debts. Income may look ok on paper, but be sucked away by debts/ loans/maintenance etc

To be honest no one is coming out of this well! I think the majority will be affected.

Right fair enough when you said families presumed you meant adult/a with a child not two adults only. I agree is rubbish, I’m on benefits in England so get the £200 loan just delaying the payment not going do much.

[quote Graphista]@DuchessOfDodo I was watching the martin Lewis show last night - I thought he showed considerable restraint when interviewing sunak even though it was clear he thinks the man is a useless bloody idiot!!

With NO IDEA what its like scrabbling down the back of the sofa for pennies to top up the meter!!

You have to email with your story of why you need it and provide documents and bank statements.

That's bloody ridiculous if only from the INSANE admin costs this will cause and probably a huge backlog too! But I'm guessing that's what Rishi is banking on - making it too Damn hard to claim!

@Dreamstate you don't see ANY irony in referencing Thatcher at all? The pm that closed all the coal mines and privatised energy?!

[/quote]
Lol thats why I said because look you just fell right for it by saybits her fault for closing down coal mines yet previously u said its not about what past government have done its about now.

This contradiction!

You still cant even see the problem is we import too much! That the push to be environmentally friendly by achieving bet zero carbon emissions is the fundamental reason why we are where we are

I'm not that worried, we've been struggling financially for a while and this just means more of the same again. I'm resigned more than worried.

@Whelmed

I'm not that worried, we've been struggling financially for a while and this just means more of the same again. I'm resigned more than worried.

I feel like this too.

@Akire

I looked up my councils fund it’s like old crisis loan but you don’t pay it back. You have to email with your story of why you need it and provide documents and bank statements. It’s not a simple as I’m on low wage give us £100 please. They then go through your story with any evidence and your bank statements not sure if that last 3 months then make a decision. I presume some of it will be questioning payments and expenses. If you have any they deem unsuitable the classic phone and Sky payments imagine will be turning you down and asking you to reduce spending. If you have a good enough story and havnt been over spending then maybe in with chance

Sounds like the same system as the local council covid business grants which was a nightmare, especially for the 3 million excluded from SEISS and furlough who were desperate for any crumbs of support, who had to provide all kinds of evidence they were affected by covid lockdowns, all because the councils simply didn't want to pay out so made the system ridiculously hard, made worse because council staff running the scheme had no experience of businesses.

@ElectraBlue

Silly response that does not actually address the main issue: energy prices don't need to be that high for the consumer, as demonstrated by what is happening in France where their government intervened to keep prices down.

This government simply allows greedy energy companies to make ridiculously high profit unregulated...that is the problem.

Some half-baked loan scheme which is an insult to the public is not going to achieve anything until the UK stops allowing these corporate companies fat cats to line their pockets.

Unfortunately those fat cats are often linked to our government MPs

Sounds like the same system as the local council covid business grants which was a nightmare, especially for the 3 million excluded from SEISS and furlough who were desperate for any crumbs of support, who had to provide all kinds of evidence they were affected by covid lockdowns, all because the councils simply didn't want to pay out so made the system ridiculously hard, made worse because council staff running the scheme had no experience of businesses.

^ evidence was required to stop people claiming that weren’t actually self employed at all. It’s not hard to supply a bank statement is it. It was dumped on council staff alongside their own work- perhaps WAG would like to administer it themselves next time! Or people could read the damn claim requirements properly before putting it in- that would have been helpful.

Oh and the crumbs you speak of were around £30k!

@Suzi888

Sounds like the same system as the local council covid business grants which was a nightmare, especially for the 3 million excluded from SEISS and furlough who were desperate for any crumbs of support, who had to provide all kinds of evidence they were affected by covid lockdowns, all because the councils simply didn't want to pay out so made the system ridiculously hard, made worse because council staff running the scheme had no experience of businesses.

^ evidence was required to stop people claiming that weren’t actually self employed at all. It’s not hard to supply a bank statement is it. It was dumped on council staff alongside their own work- perhaps WAG would like to administer it themselves next time! Or people could read the damn claim requirements properly before putting it in- that would have been helpful.

I was meaning more when they required a copy of a current lease, for the likes of market traders, people renting space in other premises, etc who don't actually have a paper lease, and wouldn't accept bank statements clearly showing the "rent" payments. A lot of councils wanted a hell of a lot more than "a bank statement" - they wanted all different kinds of proofs and would often keep coming back for more and more.

Re the £30k you allude to, about 1.5 million self employed were excluded because of the crazy 50:50 rule, or earning just over £50k, or due to start date, or losses in the qualifying years (either start up years or buying equipment/vehicles etc). They were desperate for the local council ARG grants only to be hit with obstructive councils.

Then of course, some people weren't given council grants because some enforced a condition of "not receiving any other support", so lots of people were refused because they received as little as a few hundred pounds of SEISS (due to low profits in qual years) or in one case, a client of mine was refused ARG grants of a few thousand because they received about £90 of SEISS.

I helped a few dozen of my clients to apply for local council grants and it was a nightmare. Not only excluded from SEISS or Furlough, but then excluded from ARG on spurious grounds.

As for the fraud aspect, that's just an excuse. SEISS/Furlough and BBL loans have been paid by the billion to fraudsters. ARG was also paid to people who "qualified" on paper but didn't actually need it.

Just because billions were paid out to "some" businesses/freelancers, doesn't excuse the fact that millions were excluded on spurious grounds. Fred Smith getting £40k doesn't help Freda Jones who got beggar all and has lost her business!

@Kazzyhoward ok. Well our Dept didn’t deal with the SEISS grants-(thank God). I know someone who had them, didn’t need them. I agree it’s disgusting. The problem is people who take the piss are part of the problem. If people were honest assessors could just issue the payments.
Wales dished out plenty, but our schemes seem more generous. Not many checks were made,
management just wanted to get rid of them.

@Graphista

so dont actually care.

Of course they don't care. ANYONE who voted Tory who isn't wealthy thinking they did is nuts!

What do you expect them to do

GOVERN!

That means NOT screwing up the economy NOT treating the poor like scum!

Well if the poor weren't idle scroungers forever partying then they would be as rich and successful as Johnson and Sunak.

If JC had won the election, would we be in a better position?

Either way, the GE is 2 years away and if people are still hurting, they will vote accordingly

Has the Labour Party any suggestions on what to do now instead of just attacking the Government? 😳

If they do come to power, people will expect solutions, answers and not just sound bites 😳

@ElectraBlue

Silly response that does not actually address the main issue: energy prices don't need to be that high for the consumer, as demonstrated by what is happening in France where their government intervened to keep prices down.

This government simply allows greedy energy companies to make ridiculously high profit unregulated...that is the problem.

Some half-baked loan scheme which is an insult to the public is not going to achieve anything until the UK stops allowing these corporate companies fat cats to line their pockets.

France produces a lot of their own power still though, so not quite the same.

And yes the government's response is pitiful, why don't they remove some of the green levies and reduce VAT on it? It was stupid to put so much faith in renewable energy before the infrastructure in place. We are fortunate we will be able to absorb it, I'd happily pay more tax IF it was guaranteed to be used sensibly towards those who need it, but of course it won't be.

@EngTech

If JC had won the election, would we be in a better position?

Either way, the GE is 2 years away and if people are still hurting, they will vote accordingly

Has the Labour Party any suggestions on what to do now instead of just attacking the Government? 😳

If they do come to power, people will expect solutions, answers and not just sound bites 😳

I guess you missed earlier this year when one party introduced a bill to remove VAT on fuel bills and the other opposed it.

You are right that there is one party with no policies, but you have got confused as to which is which.

@Lampshading

And yes the government's response is pitiful, why don't they remove some of the green levies and reduce VAT on it? It was stupid to put so much faith in renewable energy before the infrastructure in place. We are fortunate we will be able to absorb it, I'd happily pay more tax IF it was guaranteed to be used sensibly towards those who need it, but of course it won't be.

The current government who have been using taxes for those who need it most, their mates.

I’m both extremely worried and also kind of resigned and defeated. I’m on UC, and I’m really going to struggle. I’ve applied for the Warm Home Discount ages ago and my status is still being “checked”.

I feel very trapped. I’d love to be able to just get out to work again, but I can’t due to my circumstances.

I'm furious about it. Apparently the new cap will see a further 2.2million homes into fuel poverty. Presumably more will be added to the ranks in October.

We know how bad this can be for physical and mental health, especially among those who are more vulnerable. This is why, in 2000 there was cross party support to put in measure to eradicate fuel poverty by 2016. And this is in the same week Gove announced levelling up policies to reduce the health disparities between the different income centiles.

Ha bloody ha.