Today the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced he would provide further support to help people with the rising cost of living. He wants to give households the “tools to combat inflation.”
The Chancellor set out measures that would help support people with rising energy bills, as we had been informed earlier this week by Ofgem that energy bills would rise on average by over £800 per household.
These measures include:
- Pensioners will receive a one-off payment of £300 if they receive the winter fuel payment.
- Households on the lowest income will receive £650, which they will receive in two lump sums from July.
- People who are in receipt of the disability allowance will receive a one off payment of £150.
- A discount of £400 is going to be given to every household on energy bills.
Three-quarters of this support will go to the most vulnerable households in the UK.
This further support will be welcomed by households, who have seen a dramatic rise and are expecting this to rise further in October. In addition, it is good to see more of a focus on the most vulnerable in our society, for instance those who have a disability and spend more on energy due to equipment use.
This week we met with some of our Youth Ambassadors to talk about the impact of the cost of living on them. It was hard but important to hear how young people have so much anxiety about their future and the stress of every day living. Unfortunately the support measures put forward by the Chancellor are unlikely to alleviate the anxiety being felt by young people about their futures.
