WELCOME MEASURES TO HELP WITH THE COST OF LIVING
A welcome package of measures was announced today by the Chancellor to tackle the cost of living caused by a series of global forces.
The Conservative Government are raising extra revenues through a new Energy Profits Levy, but unlike Labour's windfall tax proposal, the Levy incentivises investment and raises more revenue without deterring investment.
The package is also both more generous and more responsible than Labour’s proposals.
Mark Eastwood welcomes an extra £15 billion package of support to help families across Dewsbury, Mirfield, Kirkburton and Denby Dale with rising costs and their energy bills – ramping up direct Government support to a huge £37 billion package of cost of living support.
Due to a series of global forces, families and businesses are being hit with everyday price rises – to tackle these price rises the Conservative Government have outlined their priority to help the millions of families struggling with the cost of living.
The £37 billion package of support includes doubling the October £200 rebate to £400 – and turning this tranche of support to a non-repayable grant, supporting 8 million vulnerable households with a £650 cost of living payment, helping 8 million pensioner households with a £300 cost of living payment and supporting 6 million people on disability benefits with a £150 cost of living payment.
Today’s support builds on a £22 billion package of support already in place to help families combat global cost of living pressures including global economies reopening following the pandemic, Putin’s war in Ukraine, and a fresh wave of lockdowns in China.
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Providing £9 BILLION in targeted support to the most vulnerable households, including pensioners:
- £650 cost of living payment for every household on means-tested benefits. This means over 8 million of the most vulnerable households (around one-third of all in the UK) will be directly sent a one-off cash payment of £650, paid out from DWP in two separate instalments, with the first due from July and the second in the Autumn. Payments from HMRC for those on Tax Credits will follow one month later. All those who live in the UK and are in receipt of Universal Credit, Jobseekers Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Pension Credit are eligible.
- £300 pensioner cost of living payment for every pensioner household in receipt of Winter Fuel Payment. Around 8 million pensioner households already receive Winter Fuel Payments, which we have increased to £300. We will send all existing recipients an additional one-off £300 cash payment, due to be paid out automatically in November/December.
- £150 disability cost of living payment for those in receipt of disability benefits. For the nearly 6 million people who receive disability benefits - including Personal Independence Payments, Disability Living Allowance, and Attendance Allowance - there will be an additional one-off cash payment worth £150, paid out from DWP in September. This will help to pay for the higher costs often faced by those who require special equipment in their households.
- £500 million to help hardship cases. We are providing an additional £500 million for the existing Household Fund from October, to ensure local councils can support those not covered by the above set of payments. Local councils will continue to have discretion over exactly how the funding is used.
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Supporting hard-working families with £6 BILLION to help with energy bills.
- Doubling the October £200 rebate to £400 - and turning it into a cash grant. As well as supporting those on the lowest incomes, it is also fair that we help ordinary working families. That is why the initial £200 rebate for every household we announced in February will be doubled to £400 - and we will cancel the existing clawback mechanism, thereby turning it into a £400 cash grant for every household. This will continue to be delivered by energy suppliers from October, with payments spread over six months.
Mark Eastwood MP said:
“I know families across the Dewsbury constituency are struggling with rising costs driven by global pressures and rising energy prices.
“That is why I welcome the Chancellor’s Plan, setting out a further £15 billion of support – bringing the total cost of living package to £37 billion – supporting the most vulnerable across Dewsbury, Mirfield, Kirkburton and Denby Dale with up to £1,200 per household and directly boosting support for pensioners.
“This timely and targeted support will help those most in need whilst the boosted cash grant of £400 will support families across the board who need support with their bills.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak said:
“We know that people are facing challenges with the cost of living and that is why today I’m stepping in with further support to help with rising energy bills.
“We have a collective responsibility to help those who are paying the highest price for the high inflation we face. That is why I’m targeting this significant support to millions of the most vulnerable people in our society. I said we would stand by people and that is what this support does today.
“It is also right that those companies making extraordinary profits on the back of record global oil and gas prices contribute towards this. That is why I’m introducing a temporary Energy Profits Levy to help pay for this unprecedented package, which includes the new Investment Allowance to incentivise companies to reinvest their profits.”
