Further anger in Bradford over energy price cap crisis support

The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the support this morning following the announcement the energy price cap would be increased by £693.

The rise has caused major concern that millions more Britons will be plunged into fuel poverty by soaring energy prices, and this morning Rishi Sunak announced a packed of support to “take the sting out of a significant price shock”.

It includes a £200 discount on bills for homeowners, delivered through loans to energy firms which will be paid back through people’s bills over the next five years, along with a £150 Council Tax rebate for 80 per cent of households, plus discretionary funding for councils for those who don’t pay Council Tax or whose homes are in the higher tax brackets.

Labour accused the Government of a “decade of dithering, delays and failure” to properly address the issue and said “the Conservatives aren’t solving the cost of living crisis, they are the cost of living crisis”.

Bradford East MP Imran Hussain accused the Chancellor of “refusing to take on big energy companies” while Bradford South’s Judith Cummins said she fears the price cap rise will “push many over the edge”.

Judith Cummins and Imran Hussain both hit out at today's announcement

Leader of Bradford Council Susan Hinchcliffe added the announcement “smacked of panic” and said the Government “has no plan”.

Mr Hussain said: “For families in Bradford, the rising cost of living and soaring energy bills are causing immense hardship, with many household finances pushed to the brink and many families dragged into poverty.

“But it has only been after weeks of pressure that the Chancellor has decided to come to Parliament to address the challenges people face.

“Yet rather than presenting a well thought out, fully costed plan to help those struggling, Rishi Sunak has kicked the can down the road, making people pay tomorrow for the savings they make today, and refused to take on the big energy companies that are still reporting profits in the billions and taking the public for a ride.

“What people in Bradford needed to hear from the Government instead of creative accounting and a defence of a broken energy system, was firm action like scrapping the VAT charged on top of energy bills, introducing a windfall tax on oil and gas companies reporting bumper incomes during the pandemic, and reform of our energy market to put power in the hands of the public, not directors and shareholders.”

Ms Cummins said: “A £200 loan will do little for families who are now expecting to see an average of £693 added to their energy bills.

“This hike in energy prices squeezes families even further with the cost of living and I am deeply concerned that this will put many people in my constituency who are already struggling over the edge.”

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe added: “To me this smacks of panic by a Government without a plan.

“Councils across the country have been telling the Government for a long time now that people are struggling with the cost of living crisis; rising bills, higher National Insurance costs.

“In spite of those calls, in October they still took £20 off every family supported by Universal Credit.  In Bradford this meant they took £67 million off families’ incomes when they needed it most in the winter months.

“Now at the last minute they find £350 each for householders. It’s certainly welcome but it’s not a long-term solution to continually rising bills and low wages. 

“We do what we can as Bradford Council to support people during these difficult times through hardship support but this Tory cost of living crisis highlights the need for government to hear our calls to work with us and invest in jobs, skills and in the 21st Century transport we are ready to deliver.

“It is both wrong and economically illiterate to oversee these levels of in-work and out-of-work poverty as a nation.

“The best route out of poverty has to be work that is paid well and paid fairly. On a local level we will continue to invest in jobs, skills and regeneration for the strongest possible recovery.

“It’s well over time for this country to do the same in order to truly level up Bradford and the North of England.”