Energy price cap: Council tax rebate 'doesn't touch the sides'

Ofgem will raise the energy price cap by £693 per year from April 1, the regulator said this morning.

Readifood Food Bank manager Alison Peyton, 54, said people won’t be able to heat their homes, wash with hot water or boil the kettle.

Reacting to the 54 per cent rise in costs, Ms Peyton said: “That’s just phenomenal. I know even the staff here will worry what they’re going to do.”

“People are going to start turning the heating off and limiting how they cook food. That could be quite dangerous.”

Staff organising tinned food at Readifood

“We will undoubtedly get more referrals. We’ve already seen the number increase in the latter half of 2021 and we’re beginning to see familiar reasons that we haven’t seen for a while, where people just don’t find benefit is adequate for a whole month.”

In October last year, the Government cut £20 in benefits a month by ending the Universal Credit Uplift.

“For people who have medical conditions which are worsened by temperature issues and need their heating on – where are we supposed to save money?” added Ms Peyton.

One of those people is Lisa Clements, 43, from Reading. To save the heating she can afford for her son when he's home from school, she can be bedridden by the impact the cold has on her permanent back injury.

Lisa Clements, who said she and her son, 10, will be forced to aid she will be forced to either "heat or eat" by the rise in energy costs

Speaking on Monday, when analysists had predicted Ofgem's price hike, she said: “I don’t understand why the government hasn’t stepped in to help people”

“While they’re having parties or they’ve got their second homes or they’re flying off on holidays, there’s people out their struggling.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced plans today for a £200 rebate on energy bills, which will have to be paid back and a £150 reduction in council tax, which will not have to be paid back.

This means the Government will hike bills by £40 per year over the next five years from 2023 to recoup its cash.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak leaves the House of Commons after he outlined the government support for consumers for the rising costs of energy

Whitley Councillor Micky Leng said this was not enough to protect the most vulnerable.

“It doesn’t touch the sides does it,” he said of the proposed Government support.

“I am in shock to tell you the truth. I thought they were going to pull something out the bag to protect the most needy.”

He continued: “This is certainly a kick in the teeth for people that are struggling at the moment.”

Cllr Leng’s ward contains some of the most income-deprived areas in Reading, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Source: Office for National Statistics

Their analysis shows that some parts of Southcote, Norcot and Whitley will be worst hit by the rise in energy costs.

They are three of 12 neighbourhoods which are among the 20 per cent most income-deprived in England.

The cost of energy has been largely driven up by soaring gas prices.

Energy giant Shell has cashed in on the changes, reporting a 14-fold increase in profits.