to think that the Government have NOT covered the predicted cost of the energy price rises for lower income people by October as they claim

[cakeorwine]

I have heard this claim repeated several times now. They say that £1200 of support has been given which will cover the average cost - and they have been asked about this for October.

In October 2021 - the price cap was about £1400
In April 2021 - the price cap is about £2000
In October 2022, the prediction is £3300

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58090533

As far as I can see, the only support given - and the maximum available was:

And this all started from the hassle they were getting up to April.

£150 back from Council tax for Bands A - D
£400 discount off energy biils for all households
£650 payment to people on universal credit

(which is £1200)

But part of this was already discussed in April (and the £200 'loan' became a £400 discount)

So the change from October 2021 to October 2022 is £1900 - of which low income households get £1200. A £700 difference

This has not been challenged in the debates. And of course, the actual bills people pay could vary greatly.

I think politicians have their heads in the sand about October 2022.

A helpful graphic - but it doesn't show October's predicted rise

Yes, you are right. It did go unchallenged in the leadership debate and Rishi did say that the interventions for the poorest households met the £1200 increase.

I had expected, ever the optimist, that the new forecast which go well beyond the one set out by Ofsted (£2800?) only a few months ago would mean that they would need to act before the autumn budget but now they seem reluctant to say that there will be an adjustment then.

I think they need to be upfront and say that there is either more in the tank or that there isn't. And not pretend that the interventions cover the rise, as you say. And preferably they need to achieve some agreement about what the plan is once they get down to the last two candidates and not just sit on their hands until September, when the winter cap will be known and set in August, like some political game of chicken with the nation.

YANBU and it's even worse than you say because in October 2021, the price cap was £1277, and a few months before that I think it was even less and you could fix at less than the price cap, so you could get the price cap amount of energy for under £1000 pa.

By October, when the price cap is £3300 or whatever it is predicted to be, that will mean that people will be facing increases in energy costs that could be over £2k pa, on top of increases in food prices and petrol.

So that will be a huge chunk, much of which is unavoidable from the budget of people on low incomes and no, it isn't covered by the grants that people have been awarded.

So they shouldn't be suggesting that it is, but sadly it's the case that the government are often either ill informed or stick to the party line, even when it's untrue or misrepresentative in most circumstances.

Although, they could be including the reduction in the increase in NI contributions in their calculations, I don't know what difference that makes, but anyway, the truth is that many people will be feeling the squeeze and many finding that their income doesn't cover their basic bills, let alone any extras.

Which is where it's most noticed - If your income is £2k and your essentials are £1500, you have £500 to spend or save. If your income increases to £2200 but your essentials go up to £2000, your spare money has reduced to less than half what it was, even though you've had a pay rise.