To go back to being terrified about energy bills from April.

[Thisismynamenow]

So Jeremy Hunt seems to have scrapped scaled back the energy scheme as of April, and moved to a targeted approach from them.

We are always over the threshold for means tested support but finances are always tight, so sounds like our prices will increase dramatically in April for energy again. Just in time for our nursery fees of well over £1000 per month to start.

I'm back to be terrified of how to afford it. We cut back as much as possible and don't plan on having the heating on until absolutely necessary, so can't cut anymore usage (we're below the average usage figures).

This government is absolutely useless and utterly destructive.

I think your problem is having to pay £1000 per month nursery fees!

He's right to go for a targeted approach.

Because at the moment lot's of people will get help who don't really need it.

It would be better off that more money goes to the people who are really in poverty than goes to people to heat their mansions.

The problem is that targeting is quite difficult and expensive, which is why they probably went for the non targeted approach in the first place.

Yep.
I totally understand reasons and hope they come up with something better but absolutely dreadful and was it that particular issue that spooky market anyway?

That's the reality for a lot of families with young kids. There's not much Op can do about that.

Wasn’t the support always tapering away come April?

But that's how much nursery costs, and has done for some years. Not much OP can do about it!

YANBU to be worried.

Childminder instead of nursery?
Compressed hours for one or both of you to cut 1-2 days childcare?
Remortgage over a longer term and fix for a long period, to reduce mortgage whilst paying nursery fees?
Return to work earlier if that’s still financially more £ than not working?

Well, that's very helpful isn't it. She can't very well jam it back in.

Yeah, just lob the kid in a field for the day. Who needs childcare.
£1000 a month is of course part of the problem, but that's not really of OP's making.

I think it's reasonable to let people who can afford to pay, pay but I agree that targeting will be difficult and will mean people who need support don't qualify.

I thought a long term, low interest loan scheme might have helped. It would mean consumers can decide if they need it and if they take the support, it could be paid back over a long period.

This doesn’t apply to the energy prices. If the current cap hadn’t been introduced, 80% of ALL households would have been in fuel poverty.

OP YANBU. This is very concerning news for the genuinely squeezed middle.

On paper a means-tested system is fair, I just doubt the tories' definition of 'able to pay' will match most people's.

No, it was ‘fixed’ for two years.

No, that was the labour proposal along with costings to pay for it from an energy company windfall tax.

April is realistic but the fact remains we were all advised we had two years support in place.

Strawberrysquash - Well perhaps the OP needs to look at cheaper childcare options.

You have no idea what you're talking about.

Yeah, that bloke who said he can look after preschoolers in the back of his transit is only £5 a day.

Get ready for the even more squeezed middle.

The middle is where all the money is going to come from. Because the poor don't have any and the rich just avoid it.

They are talking about tax rises. So corporation tax rises, reversal of the NI charge, they are going to put the middle through the mangle.

I don’t know why they didn’t say the first x thousand units of gas/electricity would be subsidised for everyone so covering the majority of people at the equivalent of the £2500. Any units used above that would not be capped, or capped at a higher rate say.

I also couldn’t understand why Truss was so against energy efficiency campaign. Since she was offering to subsidise every single household unit used, surely she would have been keen that people used as little as possible.

Bahhahahahahahahhhahahahhahahhhaha you're an absolute loon. Childcare in this country is extortionate (not the providers fault).

I get to choose between nursery at nearly £1800 per month FT or a childminder at £13 an hour.

OP, you're right to be worried. We have the same issue - over any threshold but have huge outgoings thanks to childcare. Manageable when we planned our children and before huge inflation and now very very worrying.

Unfortunately everything simple you try to do normally fails.

I call this the "why can't we just" rule. Normally spouted by clueless managers who only don't have the system knowledge to really understand the impact of seemingly simple changes.

In your scenario, imagine a house with 6 people living on the poverty line. They will use more heat/light than a house of 2 middle class people and arguably need more help. but both would get the same amount.

No, the original price guarantee was going to last for 2 years for domestic customers

What would those be then?!

£1000 a month is pretty cheap in my area.

My thoughts exactly.

I earn £12k per year & do t have a mansion but because I have lived frugally since I was 18 to save, I will now, under means tested plans, be entitled to no help & will have to use savings. May as we’ll have lived the high life.