Following the 26th August announcement of the Ofgem price energy cap increase, the NFWI chair Ann Jones made a public statement and announced the WI's new collaborative "Warm this Winter" campaign.
Along with leading anti-poverty and environmental organisations across the UK, the NFWI will be asking the Government to:
Give emergency financial support to vulnerable households
Develop and implement a nationwide energy efficiency programme that includes home insulation
A roll-out of onshore wind generation
An end to offshore oil and gas expansion
Take action- the Warm this Winter campaign
Sign the petition on the Warm this Winter website.
Use our template letter to write your MP to call for emergency and longer-term policies to address the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis.
Stay up to date with the WI’s work with the Warm this Winter campaign by signing up to the NFWI Public Affairs digest.
Read more about the WI's campaign below.
Introduction
The cost of living in the UK is rising at its fastest levels for 40 years. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has placed pressure on global food supplies and has restricted the global flow of Russian oil and gas. This has, in part, caused price rises in the wholesale costs of food and fuel, which have, in turn, been passed onto UK consumers. These price shocks have rocketed our energy bills, food bills and UK inflation figures skywards.
As the largest women’s voluntary organisation in England, Wales and the Islands, the WI is conscious that this will be a very difficult time for millions of people in the UK. With that in mind, we wanted to set out what the WI will be doing in the coming months to campaign for emergency and longer-term action on the cost of living crisis, and signpost sources of help and support.
This page was last updated on August 26th 2022.
Current UK context- taken from the House of Commons Library briefing
The cost of living has been increasing across the UK since 2021, and in July 2022 was the highest it has been since 1982. Increases in the costs of consumer goods, underpinned by strong demand from consumers and supply chain bottlenecks have been one factor behind rising inflation. Another important driver of inflation is energy prices, with household energy tariffs increasing and petrol prices going up. From July 2021 to July 2022, domestic gas energy prices increased by 96% and domestic electricity prices by 54%.
The UK is particularly exposed to high gas prices as 85% of households use gas boilers to heat their homes, and around 40% of electricity is generated in gas-fired power stations.
According to the Office for National Statistics, 89% of adults in Britain reported an increase in their cost of living since July 2022. Real household incomes are expected to fall in 2022. In August 2022, the Bank of England expected post-tax household income to fall by 1.5% in 2022, then fall by 2.25% in 2023, before rising by 0.75% in 2024.
The Resolution Foundation estimated that to afford the increase in energy bills in January-March 2023, the poorest fifth of households will have to cut back 24% of non-essential spending.
Overview- current package of Government support
On 26th May 2022, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a cost of living support package to help households with high inflation.
Measures include:
All households with a domestic electricity connection, and/or a domestic electricity meter, will receive a £400 non-payable grant as a credit from their energy supplier in Autumn 2022. These households will be automatically eligible for the grant and do not need to apply for it. This grant will be paid to households over six months from October 2022.
More than 8 million households on means-tested benefits will receive a one-off payment of £650 in two lump sums to help with the cost of living.
Pensioners in receipt of the Winter Fuel Payment will receive an one-off £300 ‘Pensioner Cost of Living’ payment to help with energy bills. This will top-up their annual Winter Fuel Payment in November/December. For most households this will be paid by direct debit.
Around 6 million people across the UK in receipt of certain disability benefits will receive a one-off payment of £150 from September 2022 to help with rising costs. The Government will make these payments directly to eligible people across the UK.
On 3rd February 2022, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an Energy Bills Rebate support package to help households with rising energy bills.
The package included:
A £150 non-repayable council tax rebate for all households that are liable for council tax in bands A-D in England. This was expected to benefit 80% of homes in England, and was paid directly by local authorities in April 2022.
Local authorities to be given £144 million of discretionary funding to support people needing help with energy bills who were not eligible for the council tax rebate.
Devolved administrations to receive around £715 million to provide comparable support to the council tax rebate, where the UK Government did not cover Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
WI supports the Warm this Winter campaign
As we head into winter, the WI is very concerned that the UK’s reliance on oil and gas for our heating and electricity is both putting bill payers under impossible financial strain, whilst also deepening the climate crisis. We need urgent Government action to rapidly move us further towards heating and electricity systems that are clean, green, ready-to-deploy and cheap-to-run, and a national programme of home insulation to keep our heat in and to lower our bills.
We are supporting the Warm this Winter campaign to call on the Government to put in place a package of measures to address the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis. The campaign is calling for immediate emergency financial support to the most vulnerable for energy bills, whilst also calling for action that leads us away from the UK’s broken energy system towards cleaner, greener and cheaper forms of energy.
We will be asking the Government to:
Give emergency financial support to vulnerable households
Develop and implement a nationwide energy efficiency programme that includes home insulation
A roll-out of onshore wind generation
An end to offshore oil and gas expansion
Take action- the Warm this Winter campaign
Sign the petition on the Warm this Winter website.
Use our template letter to write your MP to call for emergency and longer-term policies to address the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis.
Stay up to date with the WI’s work with the Warm this Winter campaign by signing up to the NFWI Public Affairs digest.
Sources of support
If you are struggling to pay for your energy bills, contact your energy supplier as soon as possible. The rules from energy regulator Ofgem state that your energy supplier has a duty to help you and can help to set an energy payment plan that you can afford. Options to help you include a full payment plan review, affordable debt repayment plans, payment breaks, payment reductions, more time to pay, or access to hardship funds. (Advice taken from MoneySavingExpert.com)
Citizens Advice
Citizens Advice has dedicated cost of living resources available on their website. Trained Citizens Advice advisers can be contacted over the phone through the Citizens Advice national phoneline, or you can visit a Citizens Advice centre in-person. You can find your nearest Citizens Advice centre here.
Money Saving Expert
The Money Saving Expert website, founded by Martin Lewis, includes a range of resources, guides, money saving checklists, budget calculators and tips focused on the cost of living crisis.
In particular, the website includes a 10-minute benefit check calculator where you can make sure you are receiving all the money you are entitled to, and tips on how to claim pension credit. The website also includes a ‘heat the human, not the home’ guide, and guidance on how to claim free insulation and boiler grants.
StepChange
StepChange is a organisation that offers free, flexible debt advice based on a comprehensive assessment of your financial situation. Any advice provided is confidential and will not affect your credit score. StepChange have put together resources focused on the rising cost of living, which you can access here.
Contact your MP’s office
Your MPs constituency casework team may be able to signpost you toward local sources of support, and provide support in instances of benefit delays or when accessing the benefit system. You can also make an appointment to speak to your MP through one of their advice surgeries.
You can find your MP, and their contact details, here.
The Trussell Trust
The Trussell Trust supports a nationwide network of food banks and provides emergency food and support to people in poverty. They also campaign for change to end the need for food banks in the UK. If you need to use a foodbank, or are able to donate to a foodbank, you can find your nearest Trussell Trust foodbank here.
Cooking on a Bootstrap
Award-winning food writer, journalist and anti-poverty campaigner Jack Monroe’s website ‘Cooking on a Bootstrap’includes 100s of recipes designed to allow people to cook nutritious and delicious food on a tight budget. The recipes on Jack’s website are also available in a range of recipe books.
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