Tag: cost of living crisis

Downing Street showdown does nothing to address energy cost fears

The Prime Minister, Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng met industry leaders from the electricity sector yesterday to discuss what more they can do to help people struggling with rising energy prices – but the meeting did nothing to resolve the impending crisis.

The Prime Minister, Chancellor, Business and Energy Secretary stressed the need to act in the interest of the country in the face of rising energy prices caused by Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and how vital it was that the Western world continued to stand by the Ukrainian people during their battle for survival.

The Chancellor and energy firms agreed to work closely over the coming weeks to ensure that the public, including vulnerable customers, are supported as unprecedented global events drive higher energy costs.

Government support worth £37 billion is being provided this year to help people with the rising cost of living, including £1,200 for the most vulnerable households over the course of the year and £400 discounted off everyone’s energy bills from October.

It was noted that the market is not always functioning for consumers, and extraordinarily high bills will ultimately damage energy companies.

As set out in the Energy Security Strategy, the Government has launched a consultation to drive forward market reforms and ensure the market works better for consumers. Discussion focussed on how Government and industry can collectively drive forward reforms to ensure the market delivers lower prices.

The Prime Minister, Chancellor and Business and Energy Secretary emphasised the importance of investing in North Sea oil and gas, renewables, biomass and nuclear to strengthen our domestic energy security.

The Chancellor added the Government continues to evaluate the extraordinary profits seen in certain parts of the electricity generation sector and the appropriate and proportionate steps to take.

The Prime Minister set out that it will be for the next Prime Minister to make significant fiscal decisions.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Countries around the world are feeling the impact of Putin’s damaging war in Ukraine. We know that this will be a difficult winter for people across the UK, which is why we are doing everything we can to support them and must continue to do so.

“Following our meeting today, we will keep urging the electricity sector to continue working on ways we can ease the cost of living pressures and to invest further and faster in British energy security.

“We are continuing to roll out government support over the coming months, including the second £324 instalment of the cost of living payment for vulnerable households, extra help for pensioners and those with disabilities, and the £400 energy bills discount for all households.”

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadhim Zahawi, said: “This morning I hosted industry leaders from the electricity sector to discuss what more they can do to work with Government and act in the interest of the country in the face of rising prices caused by Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

“We have already acted to protect households with £400 off energy bills and direct payments of £1,200 for 8 million of the most vulnerable British families. In the spirit of national unity, they agreed to work with us to do more to help the people who most need it.”

The meeting was attended by representatives from:

  • EDF
  • RWE
  • E.ON
  • Drax
  • Orsted
  • Uniper
  • National Grid
  • SSE
  • ScottishPower
  • Centrica
  • Octopus Energy
  • Vitol
  • Intergen
  • Greencoat Capital
  • Energy UK

Scottish Government Resilience Room convened to discuss ‘cost emergency’

The First Minister chaired the Scottish Government Resilience Committee yesterday (August 11) to discuss urgent steps to mitigate the growing cost emergency which is affecting people and businesses.

Ministers assessed the current situation and likely scenarios in the months ahead and agreed a number of immediate actions. The Scottish Government will:

  • Continue to maximise the direct financial assistance available to those most in need, principally through ongoing work to extend eligibility for and increase the value of the Scottish Child Payment
  • Undertake an emergency budget review to assess any and all opportunities to redirect additional resources to those most in need, reduce the burdens on business and stimulate the Scottish economy
  • Consider urgently all options within devolved powers for regulatory action to limit increases in costs for people, businesses and other organisations
  • Bring together energy companies, banks and food retailers to examine what further help can be provided by these businesses to limit cost increases and protect those most vulnerable 
  • Work with partners to strengthen the safety net of emergency food/fuel provision, prioritising a ‘cash first’ approach
  • Provide further advice to households on using energy more efficiently and reducing consumption

The Resilience Committee will meet on a weekly basis for the foreseeable future to oversee and direct progress on these immediate actions and keep under ongoing review any further steps that the Scottish Government can take.

In addition to doing everything possible within its powers, the Scottish Government is renewing its call for urgent and substantial action from the UK Government including:

  • An immediate doubling of the direct financial support already provided, with payments made by October. It is estimated that for an out-of-work couple with two children, the payments already announced by the UK Government fall around £1,600 short of meeting the recent changes to benefits and living costs – a gap that must be filled
  • Cancellation of the forthcoming increase in the energy price cap, followed by urgent work between the government and energy companies on energy market reforms and associated financing options to ensure sustainable costs for consumers in the long term
  • The urgent introduction of an energy price cap for Small and Medium Enterprises
  • Support for business to prevent closures due to energy price rises and investment in economic stimulus to minimise the scale of the projected recession
  • A further windfall tax to ensure nationalisation of the profits being made out of the current pressures
  • Additional funding to support public sector pay increases and protect the recovery of public services from the pandemic

The First Minister said: “It is clear that the UK currently faces a rapidly escalating emergency that goes beyond simply the cost of living and is now a more general cost of everything crisis. This emergency may be of a different nature to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is on a similar scale.

“In the absence of substantial and urgent action, this emergency will cause acute deprivation and suffering. It will affect access to practical necessities for millions of people across the UK. Bluntly, it will cost lives.

“To illustrate the severity of the situation, the Scottish Government estimates that, even with current UK Government mitigations, at least 700,000 households in Scotland – 30% of all households – will be living in extreme fuel poverty by October. That number could be even higher, if the Ofgem price cap for October 2022 is above £2,800. 

“It is essential, therefore, that the response from government at every level is commensurate, in scale and speed, to the nature and magnitude of the emergency.

“In developing a response, governments must first and foremost address immediate need. We must all focus on supporting individuals, businesses and jobs by addressing the principal root causes of the problem.

“Scottish Ministers are clear that the powers and resources needed to tackle this emergency on the scale required – access to borrowing, welfare, VAT on fuel, taxation of windfall profits, regulation of the energy market – lie with the UK Government. This is reflected in the actions we have proposed and set out today.

“At the same time, the Scottish Government will continue to do everything within our resources and powers to help those most affected.”

The Economy: Don’t Panic But Do Worry

This year has not seen the return to normality that many businesses hoped for. Supply chain disruption, rising prices, hiring difficulties, interest rate increases, and lack of confidence are taking their toll (writes Fraser of Allander Fellow JAMES BLACK).

Many economic organisations are now forecasting potential slowdowns in the UK and globally, but significant uncertainty remains around forecast business conditions.

One of the challenges in predicting slowdowns is the timing. Robust data often takes months to collect, so we often do not know if the economy has started slowing until months after it begins.

It’s helpful to step back and look at the significant economic drivers in times of such uncertainty. Survey snapshots, such as our recently published Scottish Business Monitor sponsored by Addleshaw Goddard, can provide some hints. So, what are businesses saying about their current performance and expectations for the coming year?

Starting with the positives, more businesses reported an increase in sales volume in the year’s second quarter than a fall, resulting in a net balance of +15%. This net figure is reasonably high, and this level hasn’t been seen in our survey since 2014. Employment, new business, and capital investment indicators also remained positive for the second quarter.

On the face of it, businesses have been remarkably resilient. Few people predicted emerging from one of the greatest human health crises in over a century with unemployment rates near record lows. Scottish onshore GDP grew by 0.6% in May, now 1.1% above February 2020 levels of output.

But concerns are now starting to emerge in the data. The net balance of the sales volume is still positive but has weakened since the start of the year. Looking ahead to expectations over the next six months, the positive but weakening finding is consistent across many indicators such as business volume, new business, and employment.

This weakening is mirrored across several other surveys. The June RBS Purchasing Managers’ Index showed the weakest expansion in Scotland’s business activity since January. Only 13% of UK businesses in the ONS’ Business Insights and Conditions Survey reported an increase in turnover in June compared to 24% reporting a decrease, and expectations for August are negative.

The most commonly reported challenge impacting these turnover figures is the cost of materials. Our survey has been asking Scottish businesses to report on their business costs since 1998 and provides a useful reference for the scale of this challenge.

The past four quarters have shown cost increases across the board. Costs for energy, employees, inputs, imported goods and services, distribution, and credit are all increasing or already very high. Compared to the 23 years of surveyed total business costs between 1998 and 2020, each of the past four quarters is a record breaker.

The knock-on impact of these price rises continues to filter through to the economy. An ONS survey states that 44% of UK firms have reported absorbing costs, while 26% passed on price increases to consumers. Two in five Scottish firms we surveyed said they expect to reduce their operations due to energy prices.

Concerns exist around how these supply-side issues could lead to significant demand-side impacts and contribute to a slowdown. So, what does the evidence show on how the major drivers of demand – consumer spending, export demand, government spending, and investment – have been affected?

Household spending accounts for almost two-thirds of Scotland’s GDP, but many people have seen their costs increase while their wages have failed to keep up. The likely impact is people dipping into savings, borrowing, buying fewer goods and services, or substituting for cheaper goods and services.

On savings, aggregate data up to May on net household deposits to UK banks has so far remained relatively stable over the year. If consumers, as an aggregate, start dipping into savings, this would be worrying not just for living standards but also for a potential reckoning down the road as these savings eventually run out. Credit card borrowing does appear to have increased, but total borrowing is still moderate compared to the past decade.

However, UK Retail Sales data up to June shows rising sales values and falling sales volumes. Inflation has driven what is now a significant wedge between these trends. Sales volumes have fallen close to levels seen in June 2019. Perhaps not yet concerningly low, but the trend is worrying both in terms of living standards and the consequential impact on businesses and their supply chains.

For now, the data primarily points to reductions in delayable purchases such as furniture. Mostly anecdotal evidence suggests that consumers are opting for cheaper options in supermarkets and switching to budget retailers.

If domestic demand appears to be showing initial signs of slowing, will exporting come to the rescue? Most Scottish businesses in our survey say no. Pessimism exists about export performance over the next six months, and a global slowdown in 2023 appears increasingly likely.

Government spending in Scotland was projected to barely increase in real terms between 2022/23 and 2025/26, and inflation expectations have since worsened. The cost-of-living payment and £400 energy rebate will likely partially offset but not reverse expected negative consumer trends. However, it remains to be seen how UK policy may change under new leadership.

According to the Bank of England, investment intentions are still positive, and firms are increasingly looking toward energy-saving investments. But some firms are reassessing investment plans as the economic outlook worsens.

The challenges this year result from a perfect storm of supply chain issues. This included several surprises on the downside. An optimist may hope for the possibility of surprises on the upside too. Any signs of improved energy supply and production levels in China deserve attention over the coming months.

For now, the message for businesses is don’t panic but do worry. But for many people, there is increasing evidence that we are leaving a health crisis only to enter a crisis of living standards.

‘Boris, We Need To Talk’: FM urges action to address cost of living crisis

Sturgeon calls for emergency meeting

The First Minister has sought an emergency meeting of the Prime Minister and Heads of devolved Government Council to agree steps to help people in need as a result of the cost of living crisis.

In a letter to the Prime Minister urging the suggested September meeting be brought forward due to a “fast deteriorating” situation the First Minister made her view clear that “many people across the UK simply cannot afford to wait until September for further action to be taken”.

The meeting between leaders of the devolved governments and the UK Government would provide an opportunity to agree actions that can be taken now and formulate a plan of action for the long term. 

The Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGoRR) will convene this week to discuss what steps can be taken to urgently ease the burden on households across Scotland, both now and in the future.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “While we will continue to take all actions available to us within devolved responsibilities and budgets – the Scottish Government is investing almost £3 billion this year in a range of measures which will help address the cost of living pressures – it is a statement of fact that many of the levers which would make the biggest difference lie with the UK Government.

“It is also the case that only the UK Government can access and make available resources on the scale required. Therefore, actions by devolved governments alone – though important  – will not be enough to meet the unprecedented challenges we face.  

“Action is needed now to address significant gaps in help for households, in particular those on low incomes, who are increasingly vulnerable to the impact of rising household costs.

“However, it is also vital, given further increases to energy bills due to be announced later this month, that a substantial plan be developed now to avert and mitigate what will otherwise be a crisis of unprecedented proportions – a crisis in which many people will be unable to feed themselves and their families or heat their homes.   

“While few will escape some impact of the cost of living crisis, these impacts are not being experienced evenly. That is why the focus must be on providing targeted support to those most adversely impacted, rather than an irresponsible reduction in broad-based taxes which will benefit the relatively better off over those most in need.

“The current crisis requires clear, focused and determined leadership and co-operation to develop and deliver – at pace – a package of interventions to protect those most impacted.”

The First Minister’s letter to the Prime Minister can be read in full online. 

1 in 5 key worker households have children living in poverty

  • Around 1 million children with key worker parents are living below the breadline, research shows
  • In some parts of Britain more than two-fifths of kids in key worker households are living below the breadline
  • Poverty levels “likely to get worse” as ministers hold down pay
  • Key workers in the public sector facing another year of real-terms pay cuts

ONE in 5 (19%) key worker households have children living in poverty, new TUC research has revealed.

The research, which uses the government definition for key workers, shows that the number of kids growing up in poverty in key worker households has increased by 65,000 over the past two years to nearly 1 million (989,000) in 2022.

It forecasts that in 2023 that number will rise again to 1.1 million unless ministers take further action to support families.

North East hit hardest

The analysis – undertaken for the TUC by Landman Economics – highlights how in some regions of the UK more than two-fifths of children in key worker households are now living in poverty.

Key worker families in the North East (41%) have the highest rate of child poverty followed by the North West (29%) and London (29%) and the East of England (24%).

Scotland (8.3%) and Wales (8.9%) have the lowest rates.

Worse set to come

The TUC warned child poverty rates among key worker households are likely to get worse.

Ministers have announced another of year of real-terms pay cuts for key workers in the public sector.

The union body says this will have a devastating impact on frontline workers after a brutal decade of pay freezes and cuts:

  • Hospital porters’ real pay will be down by £200 this year 
  • Maternity care assistants’ real pay will be down by £600 this year 
  • Nurses’ real pay will be down by £1,100 this year
  • Paramedics’ real pay will be down by over £1,500 this year 

And ministers are calling for wages to be held down for some key workers in the private sector too.

The TUC says the additional support announced by the Treasury this year to help families with energy bills will be offset by cuts to real-terms pay and other rising living costs.

Risk of recession

The TUC says government calls for widespread pay suppression will reduce household spending and demand as the UK teeters on the brink of recession.

The union body highlighted how at the same time key workers are being told to tighten their belts, city bonuses are rocketing.

TUC analysis published in June month revealed that bonuses in the financial and insurance sector grew by 27.9% over the last year, six times faster than average wages in the same period, which grew by 4.2%.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Our amazing key workers got us through the pandemic. The very least they deserve is to be able to provide for their families.

“But the government is locking too many key worker households into poverty.

“Ministers’ heartless decision to hold down pay will cause widespread hardship and put the UK at greater risk of recession.

“After the longest wage squeeze in 200 years we urgently need to get more money in the pockets of working families. This will help people get through this cost of living crisis and inject much-needed demand into our economy.

“It is particularly galling that as key workers are being told to tighten their belts, city executives are enjoying bumper bonuses. Once again ordinary working people are being forced to carry the can for a crisis made in Downing Street.”

Support needed for key worker families

The TUC is calling on the government to guarantee decent living standards by:

  • Raising the national minimum wage immediately.
  • Giving all key workers a fair pay rise that meets the cost of living
  • Funding the public sector so that all outsourced workers are paid at least the real Living Wage and get parity with directly employed staff.
  • Boosting universal credit to 80% of the real Living Wage
  • Significantly increasing benefit payments to children and removing the two-child limit within social security.  

Children in poverty in key worker households by UK nation and region in 2022

RegionTotal number of children in key worker familiesNumber of children in poverty in key worker familiesPercentage of children in poverty in key worker families
North East170,58670,31141.2%
North West600,325174,49529.1%
Yorks & the Humber434,33547,65911.0%
East Midlands426,33549,15011.5%
West Midlands396,75693,15623.5%
East of England490,577115,56323.6%
London661,487189,69128.7%
South East811,614125,84815.5%
South West362,53943,28711.9%
Wales249,78922,2858.9%
Scotland445,82637,0058.3%
Northern Ireland146,35320,78714.2%
Total5,196,522989,23719.0%

BP profits tripling show ‘broken’ energy system

Climate campaigners have said that BP reporting a tripling of quarterly profits shows that the UK energy system is ‘fundamentally broken.’ The oil giant today announced profits of £6.9 billion ($8.45 billion) in just 3 months. 

Meanwhile, energy consultants have forecast that energy bills could reach over £3,600 per household. 

BP have said they will use these record profits to pay out to their shareholders as well as buy back shares in the company from investors. Share buybacks are a way of increasing the value of shares for shareholders.

BP continues to invest in fossil fuel projects such as the Murlach oil field which will further ‘lock us into’ this broken energy system for decades, increasing company profits even further at the expense of people and the planet, campaigners say.

Climate scientists and energy experts have warned that we cannot afford any more investment into fossil fuel extraction if we are to limit dangerous climate warming to 1.5ºC. 

Recent research revealed the oil and gas industry has made over $52 trillion in profit over the last 50 years.

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s Oil and Gas Campaigner Freya Aitchison said: “This announcement of yet another obscene profit for BP is a clear sign that our energy system is fundamentally broken.

“Rising energy prices are a key driver of the cost of living crisis which is plunging millions of people in the UK into fuel poverty, yet bosses and shareholders at BP are getting even richer by exploiting one of our most basic needs.”

“BP is also worsening climate breakdown and extreme weather by continuing to invest and lock us into new oil and gas projects for decades to come. Instead of allowing these companies to continue causing social and environmental devastation to boost their profits, we need to overhaul our energy system to rapidly phase out oil and gas.

“A fair and fast transition to renewables must ensure that everyone has access to affordable and clean renewable energy.”

£400 energy bills discount to support households this winter

The UK government sets out further details of the Energy Bills Support Scheme

  • Households to start receiving £400 off their energy bills from October, with the discount made in 6 instalments to help families throughout the winter period
  • government confirms today important details of the Energy Bills Support Scheme, which will provide energy bill discounts to 29 million households across Great Britain
  • today’s announcement comes as the government launches a new online one stop shop setting out ways homeowners can help to heat their properties as part of wider Help for Households campaign

Millions of households across Great Britain will receive non-repayable discounts on their energy bills this winter, as the UK government today (29 July 2022) sets out further details of the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

The £400 discount, administered by energy suppliers, will be paid to consumers over 6 months with payments starting from October 2022, to ensure households receive financial support throughout the winter months.

Those with a domestic electricity meter point paying for their energy via standard credit, payment card and direct debit will receive an automatic deduction to their bills over the 6 month period – totalling £400.

Traditional prepayment meter customers will be provided with Energy Bill discount vouchers in the first week of each month, issued via SMS text, email or post, using the customer’s registered contact details. These customers will need to take action to redeem these at their usual top-up point, such as their nearest local PayPoint or Post Office branch.

In all cases, no household should be asked for bank details at any point. Ministers are urging consumers to stay alert of potential scams and report these to the relevant authorities where they are suspected.

Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: People across the country are understandably worried about the global rise in energy costs, and the pressure this is placing on everyday bills.

“While no government can control global gas prices, we have a responsibility to step in where we can and this significant £400 discount on energy bills we’re providing will go some way to help millions of families over the colder months.”

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadhim Zahawi, said: “We know that people are struggling with rising energy prices which is why we have taken action with support over the winter months to help ease the pressure on household budgets.

“This £400 off energy bills is part of our £37 billion of help for households, including 8 million of the most vulnerable households receiving £1,200 of direct support to help with the cost of living.

“We know there are tough times ahead and we will continue to do everything in our power to help people.”

Households will see a discount of £66 applied to their energy bills in October and November, rising to £67 each month from December through to March 2023. The non-repayable discount will be provided on a monthly basis regardless of whether consumers pay monthly, quarterly or have an associated payment card.

This means that where a person’s housing circumstances change during the 6-month period, such as those leaving or moving home, they will still benefit from the relevant portion of the total £400.

This also applies to students and other tenants renting properties with domestic electricity contracts from landlords where fixed energy costs are included in their rental charges. In these circumstances, landlords who resell energy to their tenants should pass the discounted payments on appropriately, in line with Ofgem rules to protect tenants.

As part of this package, we are confirming today that further funding will be available to provide equivalent support of £400 for energy bills for the 1% of households who will not be reached through the EBSS. This includes those who do not have a domestic electricity meter or a direct relationship with an energy supplier, such as park home residents. An announcement with details on how and when these households across Great Britain can access this support will be made this Autumn.

Details set out today will ensure the scheme is delivered to as many domestic electricity customers as possible over the winter, regardless of which supplier they use or their choice of payment method.

  • Direct Debit customers will receive the Energy Bill discount automatically as a deduction to the monthly Direct Debit amount collected, or as a refund to the customer’s bank account following Direct Debit collection during each month of delivery
  • standard credit customers and payment card customers will see the Energy Bill discount automatically applied as a credit to standard credit customers’ accounts in the first week of each month of EBSS delivery, with the credit appearing as it would if the customer had made a payment
  • smart prepayment meter customers will see the Energy Bill discount credited directly to their smart prepayment meters in the first week of each month of delivery
  • traditional prepayment meter customers will be provided with redeemable EBSS Energy Bill discount vouchers or Special Action Messages (SAMs) in the first week of each month, issued via SMS text, email or post. Customers will need to redeem these at their usual top-up point

Steps are also being taken to protect consumers from the risk of fraud, gaming, and non-compliance. Suppliers will be expected to report to government action they are taking to ensure the support has been passed onto consumers, including notifying customers in writing they have received the £400 Energy Bill discount from HM Government, and ensuring it is clearly shown on bills or statements for Direct Debit and credit customers.

Greg Hands Energy Minister said: “Today we have set out how the government will deliver discounts to help 29 million households with their energy bills this winter.

“I encourage families across the country to engage with these plans and particularly those customers on traditional prepayment meters who need to take action.

“Coupled with world-leading action to radically enhance our home-grown energy security, we will continue to be on the side of British consumers now and into the future.”

The Energy Bills Support Scheme forms part of the government’s £37 million Cost of Living Support package, providing Help for Households with rising prices, targeted at those most in need.

Households most in need will be eligible for further support in addition to the Energy Bill discount. This includes:

  • a £650 one-off Cost of Living Payment for around 8 million households on means tested benefits
  • a £300 one-off Pensioner Cost of Living Payment for over 8 million pensioner households to be paid alongside the Winter Fuel Payment
  • a £150 one-off Disability Cost of Living Payment for around six million people across the UK who receive certain disability benefits
  • a £500 million increase and extension of the Household Support Fund available to councils to support vulnerable households with the cost of essentials such as food, utilities and clothing

Today’s announcement comes as the government launches an online service to help homeowners save money on their energy bills by providing a one stop shop of ways to make properties more energy efficient.

The new GOV.UK website, originally available through the Simple Energy Advice (SEA) service, offers a breakdown of support available through various schemes and how much financial support they can receive towards energy improvements.

This is part of the government’s ‘Help to Heat’ support, investing £12 billion to make homes, particularly for low-income households, warmer and cheaper to heat, already delivering average energy bill savings of around £300 a year.

Lord Callanan, Energy and Business Minister, said: “This is a challenging time for many amidst the rising cost of living, which is why the government is stepping in with direct support.

“From delivering discounted energy bills throughout the winter months to launching a new website providing homeowners with help to make homes cheaper and warmer, we want to make sure UK residents have the information they need to access all the support that is on offer.”

Dom Littlewood saves Edinburgh family £75 on their energy bills

  • Dom Littlewood visited the Matheson family in Edinburgh as they navigate increasing energy bills and the rising cost of living
  • Part of a new mini-series, titled What’s Watt, Dom helped the Mathesons follow practical steps to better manage their energy use, including using their smart meter’s in-home display (IHD)
  • By following the advice, the family has been able to reduce their energy bills from around £7-8 per day to under £5
  • What’s Watt launches alongside the second chapter of the Super Smart Energy Savers Report, with research by Smart Energy GB revealing that 33% of Scots say that this is the first summer that they’ve taken action to reduce their energy use 

Download Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MSOZzbxBt4

Video caption: Dom Littlewood and Smart Energy GB launch a new online mini-series as part of the Super Smart Energy Savers campaign, tracking the Matheson family in Edinburgh as they take steps to better manage energy use and take control of their household budgets.

A family of four in Edinburgh have made significant savings on their energy bills after taking part in a new series with presenter and consumer champion, Dom Littlewood.

Jane and John Matheson, from Edinburgh, recently moved in together along with their two children. Since doing so, their energy bills have increased by more than three times what they were paying when they lived separately. 

The new mini-series, What’s Watt, created by Dom Littlewood and Smart Energy GB follows Dom as he visits families across Great Britain including the Mathesons in Edinburgh, to help them navigate increasing energy bills and the rising cost of living.

The Matheson family followed Dom’s practical advice to better manage their energy usage and help reduce their household bills by an average of £75* per month since his visit. 

They’ve achieved this by following advice such as shutting doors more often, turning down the temperature on their washing machine and using their smart meter’s in-home display to monitor their energy use in near-real time in pounds and pence. 

Jane Matheson said: “Since Dom’s visits we’ve been shutting doors more often, turning lights off, turning our washing machine down to 30 and only washing full loads. The tumble dryer thinks it has been made redundant, we have turned our thermostat down, ordered new insulating curtains and made enquiries about loft insulation.”

By making these small changes, Jane and John are hoping to instil positive habits in their children, so they can continue to reduce their energy usage and spending into the winter months. 

The series launches as research finds that four months on from April’s energy price cap increase, over a third (33%) of Scots say this is the first summer they’ve taken action to reduce their energy use, after typically paying less attention to bills during the warmer months. 

Despite many taking actions already, one in five (26%) Scots would like more advice on ways to save energy in the summer, with 25% wanting tips they haven’t heard before.

Following this demand for new tips, Dom Littlewood and Smart Energy GB have also teamed up with consumer advocates Helen Skelton and MoneyMagpie, to co-author the second chapter of the Super Smart Energy Savers Report.

The panel has been formed with combined expertise to ensure it features actionable advice to help all households manage their energy use and take control of their household budgets.

Advice from the Super Smart Energy Savers Panel includes:

Get the most out of your fans – choosing the right fan is key to staying cool and in control of your energy bills. Making sure any fans or cooling equipment you have around the house are as energy efficient as possible will reduce your consumption of electricity. The way you use your fan is important too: for example, some have timers that enable you to save energy when you’re asleep; or placing a bowl of ice in front of your fan will lower the temperature of the air circulating in the room and cool you down quicker.

Get a smart meter – smart meters ensure your bills are accurate and come with an in-home display that shows exactly how much energy is being used in near-real time and in pounds and pence, giving customers more control over their energy use. If you’re trying to reduce your energy use to keep bills down, knowing how much you are using – and what you’re spending – can be a huge help. As can knowing what the bill will be before it arrives. And they’re available at no extra cost from your energy supplier.

Switch to a summer routine – maybe you use your tumble-dryer regularly during the winter but using a tumble dryer three times a week costs approximately £223 a year**, so think about drying washing outside if you’re able to in the summer. It will dry much quicker and cost less than using a tumble-dryer.  

Dom Littlewood, TV presenter and consumer advocate comments: “Filming this series and meeting the Mathesons was an eye opener. It’s clear that people have become more energy conscious this year – even though sometimes it’s one member of the home leading the change.

“Whilst households are taking lots of positive steps to manage their energy use, by working directly with families we found we were able to identify some further small steps they could take, such as getting a smart meter to monitor energy use.

“My new content series, What’s Watt, and the Super Smart Energy Savers Report offers households access to information they may not have seen before, so they have more tricks up their sleeve when it comes to taking control of their household budgets.” 

Victoria Bacon, Director at Smart Energy GB, comments: “Summer is traditionally a time that energy use and bills are pushed to the back of our minds, but the increase in energy prices this year has changed that.

“With the temperatures soaring over the last couple of weeks, people are even more mindful of how much energy they’re using in the home just to keep cool and want to understand how to keep bills as low as possible.

“Understanding your energy use can have a big impact on habits – shown by how much more those with smart meters are reducing their energy bills compared to those without. It’s difficult to change what you can’t see, so using a smart meter’s in-home display to monitor energy use in near-real time helps you stay in control.”

To download the report visit – https://smartenergygb.org/super-smart-energy-savers

To view the What’s Watt mini-series visit –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MSOZzbxBt4

Energy bills crisis: Government must act now, says new report

  • New report calls on Government to update its energy bills support to help the most exposed households and consider introducing a social tariff. 
  • Negligent energy regulator Ofgem enabled now bankrupt energy firms and inexperienced CEOs to increase energy bills further.
  • A national homes insulation programme is the permanent solution to bringing down bills and should be launched urgently. 

The Government should immediately update its package of support to help households with soaring energy bills before the cost-of-living crisis grips even harder following October’s energy price cap increase, according to a new report by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee. 

It comes as people are feeling the squeeze of 40-year high inflation of 9.4% – to which the cost of energy is a big contributor – as wage increases struggle to keep up. 

Support package out of date 

The Government’s Energy Bills Support Scheme provides a £400 discount on energy bills in October for every household, a £650 means-tested one-off payment to eight million low-income households, £150 for those on disability benefits and £300 for pensioners. This was designed when the forecast for the October price cap was £2,800.

With wholesale energy prices continuing to rise industry experts now estimate that the price cap could increase to £3,244 in October, when the NEA forecast one in three (8.2 million) households face fuel poverty. A further rise is expected in January and MPs on the Committee warn that the size of the package has been ‘eclipsed by the scale of the crisis’.  

Social tariff and support for vulnerable people 

They also raise concerns that the current scheme does not sufficiently target low-income households and those in vulnerable circumstances, with the £400 discount going to some bill payers who don’t need it and repeatedly to people who own multiple homes. The Committee urges the Government to ensure that any update to its support scheme is better targeted at customers who need it the most.  

As low-income households struggle to pay their energy bills and get deeper into debt, MPs call on the Government to work with energy suppliers to develop a scheme to help households pay off debts over a longer period.  

In the longer-term, the report calls out the injustice of vulnerable people, who are unable to pay their energy bills, being moved on to more expensive prepayment meters.

The report labels this as “unacceptable” and urges the Government to consider replacing the market-wide price cap with a discounted social tariff for vulnerable customers, and a relative tariff for the rest of the market – that caps the difference between the cheapest and most expensive tariffs a supplier offers. 

Committee Chair Darren Jones said, “Once again, the energy crisis is racing ahead of the Government. To prevent millions from dropping into unmanageable debt it’s imperative that the support package is updated and implemented before October, when the squeeze will become a full-on throttling of household finances and further tip the economy towards recession.  

“We were told by a number of witnesses, ‘if you think things are bad now, you’ve not seen anything yet’. This Winter is going to be extremely difficult for family finances and it’s therefore critical that public funds are better targeted to those who need it the most.  

“It’s an injustice that the poorest households continue to pay higher energy costs because they’re on prepayment meters. This must end and a social tariff should be brought forward. 

“Ultimately, Ministers know that the long-term solution is to reduce our need for energy through insulation works that keep our homes warm in winter and cool in summer. If the Government is really taking this energy crisis and the country’s net zero targets seriously it will come forward with a bold, fully funded, national home insulation program before the end of the year.” 

Ofgem and market regulation 

Billpayers have been left to pick up the tab for supplier failures, while recent reports show bosses of at least defunct suppliers could be in line for windfalls of tens of millions. The collapse of 30 suppliers since April 2021 (29 at time of writing the report) is expected to add £94 onto energy bills.

This could increase if the Government is unable to recover the cost of running the special administration of Bulb through its sale and decides that billpayers must pick up the costs, something the report says should be paid for through general taxation.

Ofgem’s incompetence over many years enabled inadequately resourced and inexperienced founders to start energy companies. It failed to supervise regulated companies, which in turn took high risk decisions including not hedging properly and using customers money to offer unsustainable prices that undercut well run energy companies. Ofgem failed to use its existing powers and didn’t bring action against energy suppliers even when it was clear that they should have done.  

Ministers and regulators believed deregulation would drive competition, but it instead left an over- exposed and unregulated market which ultimately crashed, costing taxpayers billions of pounds. This market failure is only comparable to the banking crisis of 2008, according to MPs.  

Ofgem is pressing ahead with a major package of regulatory reform to reverse its previous shortcomings and shore up the financial resilience of the market, but the Committee remains sceptical of Ofgem’s ability to undertake this task. If measures are poorly designed and executed, they risk further destabilising the market and distorting competition. 

Insulating homes to permanently reduce demand 

Helping customers pay their energy bills is not a sustainable position for Government and volatile gas prices are expected to be a longer-term concern for the country. It is therefore urgent and essential that Ministers bring forward a fully funded, national campaign to insulate people’s homes – street by street, community by community – in order to reduce the country’s demand for energy.  

This report urges the Government to stop announcing short-term policies and moving existing budgets around and instead fully fund a national retrofit programme that businesses, homeowners, and tenants can invest and take part in.  

Such a programme is required not just to reduce the cost of energy in winter but to also keep homes cool in extreme heat, reduce the cost of cooling as well as heating, and help the country hit its net zero targets as set out in the Committees previous report on Decarbonising heating in homes

Free summer holiday activities for children and families

Cash strapped families are being offered tips on free summer holiday activities to keep the kids entertained.

The team at NetVoucherCodes.co.uk have identified ten enjoyable, engaging and completely free activities for children of all ages.

From spending quality time outdoors, or staying inside on rainy days, all ten activities engage the whole family and combine imagination and entertainment for those ‘no spend’ days.

During school holidays and at weekends, finding things to do with the kids can soon become expensive and tiresome.

These activities are perfect for keeping the whole family entertained at no cost.

John Stirzaker from NetVoucherCodes.co.uks aid: “It can become costly to keep the kids entertained especially through the summer holidays.

“A lot of people aren’t aware of some great activities you can put together for your kids at no cost – it just takes a little imagination.

“As well as coming up with some creative tasks at home, there are also some days out that allow kids to go free.

“If you do some research on your local area, you’ll probably find that there are free events worth taking advantage of like crafting, and sports days.”

10 free activities to do with kids:

  1. Go Geocaching

This is a brilliant way to explore new parts of your local area with the kids. Geocaching is essentially a modern-day treasure hunt: simply download the free app and follow the directions to the nearby location, to then find and log the hidden geocache.

  1. Become ‘Mad Scientists’ in the kitchen

It is really easy to make fun science experiments with ingredients found in the kitchen. Mix cornflour and water to make slime, or drop food colouring onto baking soda, and use a straw to drip white vinegar to create a bubbly volcanic eruption.

  1. Visit free local museums

It takes just a quick look online to find many nearby museums with free entry which cater to families. Explore history, science, and culture during the bad weather, and take part in the free interactive events which many museums put on for kids.

  1. Potato stamp art

A great way to use up any old potatoes, stamp art is a fun entertainment for the kids at home, completely for free. Just cut the potato in half (or anything else in the cupboard needing to be used up), cover with paint, and let the kids create their artwork. For older ones, let them carve out a shape in the potato for a patterned veggie stamp.

  1. Free local events

Check the local council website for kid-friendly entertainment, such as crafting, library and sports days. Especially during the summer holidays, engaging with the local community in these events is a great way to do something different for free.

  1. Obstacle course

Be inventive with things around the house! Use buckets, mops, tin cans and chairs to set out an obstacle course for the kids to let off some energy. A low prep, but highly entertaining activity inside or out with endless opportunities.

  1. Home cinema

Amplify those cosy film nights on the TV with fort making: use pillows and blankets to create a free evening-in with the kids. Grab popcorn and sweets from the cupboard for a no cost cinema experience at home.

  1. Treasure hunt

An alternative to Geocaching, use pens and paper to create a free treasure hunt for the kids. A good way to get outside, hide a small reward and draw out a simple map of the surrounding area with a ‘X’ to mark the treasure. To involve the kids even more, get them to colour in the trees, rivers, and other landmarks, on the map, and wipe the map over with a used tea bag for an old-fashioned pirate treasure map feel.

  1. Tie-dye old clothes

A great way to revamp unworn clothes, tie-dying is a free activity to entertain older kids. Tie elastic bands in small sections to the clothes, and submerge into a bucket with half water, half bleach. Let the clothes sit in the mixture for 10 minutes, remove the elastic bands and rinse thoroughly. Wash the clothes, and then the kids can show off their new colourful items, without having spent a penny.

  1. Colours scavenger hunt

Simply shade colours onto some paper and get kids to find flowers, stones, and other outside materials, which match the colours. A fun and easy way for younger ones to learn their colours whilst spending time outside at absolutely no cost.

7.2 million Cost of Living payments made to low-income families

Over 7.2 million payments of £326 have been made to help households through the UK government’s Cost of Living support.

  • 7.2 million payments of £326 – worth a total of £2.4bn – made in first week of Cost of Living support rollout
  • Payments mark the first half of the £650 Cost of Living payment for low-income families, with the second half coming in the autumn
  • Additional support for disabled people and pensioners will follow later this year

This means £2.4bn has been paid out to low-income families in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with the second instalment of £324 arriving later this year.

The first payments were made on 14 July 2022, meaning the government has paid on average over a million families every working day since then.

This is all part of the government’s £37 billion support package for households. Millions will get £1,200 this year to help them with rising costs, including this £650 payment, a £400 grant to help with energy bills, and a £150 Council Tax rebate for the 80% of households in bands A-D.

And in addition to this, nearly one in 10 people will get a £150 disability payment this autumn, while over eight million pensioner households could receive an extra £300 through their Winter Fuel Payments in November and December.

Work and Pensions Secretary, Thérèse Coffey said: “This government said that we would protect those on the lowest incomes, and we have delivered what we said with over 7 million households receiving £326 in the last week.

“There is more help to come for households, with the second half of the £650 payment arriving later this year and further payments for pensioners and disabled people also on the way.”

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadhim Zahawi said: “I know that people are finding things difficult with rising prices and increasing pressure on household budgets.

“That’s why we’re taking action to control inflation and providing immediate help for households. It’s so important that over 7 million vulnerable households have received £326 direct payments so far and there is also more help to come, with 8 million of the most vulnerable households receiving £1,200 of direct support to help with bills over the winter.”

In total, over eight million families will be eligible for this payment, with around one million eligible because they receive tax credits and no other eligible benefits. These families will receive their first instalment from HMRC in the autumn, and the second instalment in the winter.

DWP will administer payments for customers on all other eligible means-tested benefits, and no one needs to contact the government or apply for the payment at any stage.

Those who are eligible should look out in their bank accounts for a payment of £326 with the reference “DWP Cost of Living” in their bank accounts. This payment is made automatically, meaning no one has to apply or do anything to receive it.

Eligible claimants who have not received their payment yet should not be concerned, as the DWP expects some payments may take until 31 July 2022 to come through.