Family mediation experts offer advice on choosing a relationship counsellor
As the cost of living crisis puts pressure on relationships, experts encourage people to reach out for help before relationships break down completely.
Relationships Scotland, the largest provider of relationship support in the country, is offering advice to anyone looking to embark on counselling. The leading family mediation experts say there are five key questions to ask before choosing a relationships counsellor.
Stuart Valentine, Chief Executive of Relationships Scotlandsaid: “Making the decision to seek help to deal with relationship issues is not easy, it can be a daunting process admitting you need help, let alone navigating the many different options available.
“Relationships Scotland strives to offer couples and individuals a safe space to discuss their concerns and our five step guide aims to make taking the first step as easy as possible.”
Relationships Scotland says anyone thinking about counselling should ask the following five questions:
Are they trained to work with relationships?
Before you begin counselling it is important to establish the level of your counsellor’s training and their experience. In recent years it is usual for a counsellor to do either a one-year full time or a two-year part-time course. It is also important to find out what areas of relationships the counsellor can work with. It is especially important to check that the counsellor is qualified to work with couples, if you hope to go to counselling with your partner.
Is there someone checking that they are working to the right standards?
Relationships Scotland counsellors are required to undertake a minimum number of hours of casework per year. They are also required to participate in clinical supervision with a supervisor who is experienced in couple work. This helps ensure that all of counsellors are properly trained and supported in their work.
What will they do with the information I give them?
Your counsellor will discuss confidentiality with you and where there might limits on this confidentiality, such as when someone might be at risk. This is to ensure your safety and the safety of others.
Where will I see the counsellor?
Relationships Scotland has over 200 counsellors covering the whole of mainland and island
Scotland. Face-to-face and online appointments are available and there will be a service covering your area.
Will there be a charge?
All Relationships Scotland affiliated local services that provide relationship counselling receive some funding from the Scottish Government. This does not cover all the costs, however, and so some services may ask for a donation or may make a charge, depending on income.
If you are on low income, please let the service know and they work with you to make sure you receive the support you need.
Stuart Valentineadded: “Relationships Scotland understands the importance of positive and resilient relationships and the damage which relationship breakdown can cause if not handled properly, especially for children.
“We want to make counselling as accessible and as helpful as possible for anyone needing this type of support.”
Aldi is calling on local charities, community groups and foodbanks in Edinburgh to sign up now to receive surplus food donations over the festive period.
In partnership with community giving platform Neighbourly, the supermarket’s UK stores partner with good causes across the country to donate surplus food year-round.
With all Aldi stores set to close on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, the holiday season provides an opportunity for even more charities to benefit from the successful partnership.
Local charities will be paired with Aldi stores in Edinburgh this Christmas and can collect fresh and chilled food products nearing the end of their shelf-life – with the supermarket pledging to donate over a million meals over the Christmas period.
This month, Aldi hit its 40 million meals milestone since partnering with Neighbourly back in 2019.
Liz Fox, National Sustainability Director at Aldi UK, said:“We know that many communities up and down the country continue to feel the impact of the rise in living costs. That’s why we are committed to ensuring that the communities we provide for always get the support they need.
“We’re proud to hit our 40 million meal milestone with Neighbourly. This is a huge achievement and motivates us to go further and supply even more meals to local charities.”
Steve Butterworth, Chief Executive Officer at Neighbourly, added:“Christmas can be a challenging time for some families, and we expect many more will depend on the services of local charities this year.
“We’re sure there are lots more groups out there that could use the extra help that businesses like Aldi provide, so we encourage them to sign up.”
Any groups that are interested in collecting unsold food at Christmas that are not currently working with Neighbourly can get in touch with them at:
Customers also have the opportunity to donate any food or household products to local causes all year round through community donation points in all Aldi stores.
Consultation on new benefit to help with fuel costs
Views are being sought on the introduction of the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment, a new benefit to replace the UK Government’s Winter Fuel Payment in Scotland.
The Scottish Government has previously committed to delivering the new payment on a like-for-like basis with the existing benefit. It will help more than a million pensioners with heating costs in the winter.
The consultation document sets out proposals for implementing the new payment when it is introduced from the winter of 2024 and asks for responses, which can be submitted until 15 January.
The public’s views on issues such as who should be eligible, the timing and format of the payment and the likely impact of the benefit, are being sought – as well as further evidence about issues specific to people who are off the gas grid.
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will seek to safely and securely transfer responsibility for the delivery of Winter Fuel Payment to the Scottish Government, ensuring that more than a million pensioners currently eligible for Winter Fuel Payment continue to receive this support.
“This will be an investment of around £180 million in 2024-25 to help older people with the costs of heating their homes throughout the winter.
“Working with individuals and organisations with experience of the benefits system is central to our approach to developing the devolved social security system in Scotland.
“We are now looking for the public’s views, as well as those of relevant experts and organisations – through this consultation – to finalise our policy on this important benefit.”
The UK has seen a “shameful increase” in destitution, though Scotland has had “by far the lowest” rise in the numbers, a new report has found.
Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found that across the UK, there were an estimated 3.8 million people suffering from destitution – with this including more than one million children.
According to the report, rising levels of destitution mean almost two-and-a-half times as many people are suffering as there were in 2017, with nearly three times as many youngsters affected.
Rates of destitution – where people are not able to afford to meet their basic needs to stay warm, dry, clean and fed – were highest in the London borough of Newham, it found.
While Glasgow City Council was ranked 26th in the 30 local authorities with the worst rates of destitution, it had dropped 16 places from the previous report in 2019.
The report found that at a regional level, London had the highest destitution levels in 2022, followed by the North East and the North West of England, and then the West Midlands.
The regions in the south of England had the lowest rates of destitution, with both Wales and Scotland having rates comparable with the Midlands.
While destitution had increased in all regions of the UK over the period 2019 to 2022, the report found Scotland’s position had improved “with by far the lowest increase since 2019”.
It added: “This may be indicative of the growing divergence in welfare benefits policies in Scotland, notably the introduction of the Scottish Child Payment.”
The benefit, which was introduced in Scotland in 2021, gives £25 per child under 16 a week to eligible low-income families.
The report, the fourth in a series by the JRF, with research carried out by Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University, found overall “there has been a shameful increase in the level of destitution in the UK”.
It highlighted the “growing number of people struggling to afford to meet their most basic physical needs to stay warm, dry, clean and fed”, insisting there was now an “urgent need for action”.
Stating that the problem has “been increasing at an alarming rate since 2017” the report added: “Around 1.8 million households were destitute in the UK at some point over the course of 2022.
“These households contained around 3.8 million people, of whom around a million were children.”
It found that as in previous studies, food was the most common essential that people struggling with destitution lacked in 2022.
But with energy bills having risen rapidly, heating was the second most common thing for people to struggle with, followed by clothes and toiletries.
The report calls on the UK Government to introduce an “Essentials Guarantee” into Universal Credit payments, ensuring that the basic amount people receive covers all basic needs “such as food, energy, toiletries and cleaning products”.
Doing this “would have a significant impact on destitution”, the report says.
However, Chris Birt, associate director for the JRF in Scotland said governments at both Holyrood and Westminster needed to “step up” to deal with the problem.
He said: “The UK is a country with dramatically increasing destitution, where millions of people can’t afford heating or can’t afford the basic essentials like clothes or food. In a country this wealthy, that is outrageous.
“But this needn’t be the case, destitution in Scotland is rising much more slowly than in other parts of the UK with the Scottish Child Payment and local welfare support offering some protection.
“Despite this, there is no cause for celebration when destitution numbers aren’t falling.
Mr Birt continued: “It is time for both governments to step up to this challenge that years of failed government policy have caused.
“This is particularly acute for the UK Government and all the parties that are bidding to run it after the next election – they must come through for the Scottish people by embracing the Essentials Guarantee.
“The Scottish Government can also do more and will need to show it is willing to turn the tide on destitution in its forthcoming budget.”
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said that this year and last year the Scottish Government had “allocated almost £3 billion to support policies to tackle poverty and to protect people as far as possible during the cost-of-living crisis, especially those are most impacted”.
She added that as of the end of June, the Scottish Child Payment was providing 316,000 children with support worth £25 per week, with the Scottish Government also making £83.7 million available through Discretionary Housing Payments to “mitigate UK government welfare cuts”.
Ms Somerville said: “We estimate that 90,000 fewer children will live in relative and absolute poverty this year as a result of our policies, with poverty levels nine percentage points lower than they would have otherwise been.
“We continue to urge the UK Government to introduce an Essentials Guarantee to ensure people can afford life’s essentials and ensure vulnerable people are properly supported.”
An NSPCC spokesperson said: “Everybody, of any age, deserves to live with dignity. These shocking figures are a stark wake-up call about the increasing number of children facing the physical and emotional hardship of living in extreme poverty.
“Evidence shows that poverty can result in families, through no fault of their own, struggling to meet their child’s most basic needs so they can grow up in a happy, healthy and safe environment.
“Governments in the UK need to act now to address these spiralling levels of poverty and turn the tide for families who desperately need help.
“This means concerted action to reduce child poverty as well as significant investment in children’s services so families who are struggling get timely and meaningful support.”
One year on from the merger that created Home-Start Edinburgh, 17% more families have been supported thanks to increased reach and efficiency within the charity.
Home-Start Edinburgh is Edinburgh’s family charity. It was formed one year ago through the merger of two well-established charities, Home-Start Leith & North East Edinburgh and Home-Start Edinburgh West and South West. The merger has expanded the volunteer-based charity’s services to cover all of Edinburgh. Meanwhile, demand for its services has increased.
Home-Start Edinburgh’s team of dedicated volunteers support families with young children who are struggling to cope for a variety of reasons. This can include isolation, mental or physical illness, crisis or bereavement, post-natal depression, and poverty.
Volunteers often have parenting skills themselves and can offer peer support. They listen to the problems a family is facing, provide practical help, and put in place plans to build family resilience, helping to ensure the child or children have the best start in life.
In addition to in-home support, Home-Start Edinburgh runs regular groups and social events for the parents and children it supports, which help them build wider support networks. The charity also helps families purchase essential items when they are facing hardship.
The merger has expanded the reach of the charity to cover the South East of the city, and demand for its services has increased across all areas of Edinburgh. Throughout the last year, it has supported 313 families and 404 children.
Commenting on the first year of operation, Home-Start Edinburgh CEO Eliza Waye said: “I am pleased that one year on we have already seen a substantial increase in the number of families we are able to support, thanks to our dedicated and compassionate volunteer community.
“However, the need continues to outstrip our capacity, particularly as we now service the entire city.
“We have seen more families who need our services because low employment, increased financial pressures, and the lack of suitable housing options, which leads to additional stress and difficulty when you have young children.
“We have also seen an increase in needs from the growing refugee and migrant community, and more families with complex needs. As the needs continue to grow, so must we as a charity. In the coming year we are focused on growing our volunteer community and increasing our funding, helping us meet this critical need.”
Ben Macpherson MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith attended the launch of the charity, which is headquartered in his constituency, one year ago. He said: “As the local MSP, I know from my casework how Home-Start Edinburgh is able to offer a helping hand with its range of services and support for those who need it.
“During a difficult period with the cost-of-living crisis, in the first year of their merger and re-launch, it is good that Home-Start Edinburgh has been able to help more families in our communities.
“Home-Start began its Edinburgh presence in Leith in 1986 and I am glad that the charity has expanded, so that families in all parts of the city can now benefit from their services. Please get in touch with them if you think you may be able to help. Also, thank you to all donors and volunteers for supporting Home-Start’s impactful work.”
Ester Mateo received support from Home-Start Edinburgh and is now training as a volunteer. Ester said: “Home-Start supported me when I moved into a new area with young children. They helped me find activities for my kids so they could make new friends and feel less impact from the change.
“I knew that my volunteer would always be there when I needed help or advice. I’ve now applied to become a volunteer – this has given me a sense of purpose and achievement and I hope to help others.”
Call comes as the charity struggles to find homes for all animal companions after record number of people look to put their pet up for fostering after being made homeless
Animal care charity Pet Fostering Service Scotland is calling for an end to restrictive housing policies after its service has seen a record number of people looking to put their pets up for fostering.
The charity has seen over 1,000 enquiries to use Pet Fostering Service Scotland’s aid this year, a rise in over 20% compared to last year, and is now unable to find a foster home for all pets of owners in need, which could result in pets not having a safe place to stay.
With pets often abandoned by the people they depend on for care and support, Pet Fostering Service Scotland helps those in emergency situations who are eager to keep their furry companions.
Due to a multitude of reasons, pet owners can experience serious disruption to their home lives, often resulting in the dilemma of how to survive whilst also keeping their beloved pet.
Pet Fostering Service Scotland is a charity which has been supporting pet owners for 40 years. Now, the charity is calling for a ban on restrictive housing policies.
Those who have been evicted and made homeless can often feel there is no option other than to abandon their pets. According to the charity implementing less restrictive housing policies could avoid situations like these taking place.
Often accommodation for those who have either been made homeless or require refuge has a no pet policy. There has also been a rise in pet owners looking for new accommodation that accepts pets, currently having to wait one year for suitable housing to become available.
As a result, Pet Fostering Service Scotland has had to put pets into fostering for a year or longer, which is detrimental to the animal’s health as it is too long a period. This can also be distressing for owners due to the loss of consistent and familiar companionship provided by pets.
The cost-of-living increase has had a significant impact on finding temporary accommodation for those who have been made homeless, as most housing options exclude the homing of pets.
Pet Fostering Service Scotland has processed over 1,000 enquiries for pet care across Scotland this year. 37% of those were from people in a homeless or re-housing situation and as a result could not care for their pets in the short term.
Bob Sinclair Chair at Pet Fostering Service Scotland said:“For those who have been made homeless or are facing an emergency situation, being housed alongside their beloved pet is so important.
“The significance of the companionship between a pet and owner is important for wellbeing for both sides. Changing restrictive housing policies and allowing pets into temporary accommodation could be life changing for these individuals and result in far fewer abandonment scenarios.”
The Pet Fostering Service is non-chargeable and relies solely on donations for the work they provide, and volunteers can apply to become pet fosterers.
Pet fostering gives volunteers the companionship of a pet without the long-term responsibility and can bring a sense of reward from helping those in need, both human and animal.
The charity currently has over 300 volunteers.
If you are interested in fostering a pet or want to hear more about the charity, please visit https://www.pfss.org.uk/
– Customers can save up to 57% off select toys with savings of up to £60 –
– Barbie, Disney, Pokemon, Hot Wheels & Lego all included in giant toy sale –
– Toy sale available while stocks last –
Morrisons has today launched a huge toy sale across over 50 products with savings of up to £60, to help customers spread the cost over the Christmas period.
Customers can bag a bargain on Squishmallows Stackers which are reduced to £12 from £20 – alongside up to 50% of must-have toys this year from Barbie, Pokemon, Hot Wheels & Lego .
Following the release of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie earlier this year, it’s predicted that Barbie will be the top toy seller this festive period.
Morrisons shoppers can bag some Barbie bargains with 57% off the Dream Camper Playset, £60, down from £140 , 50% off the Barbie Best Friend Fairy £15, down from £30, and 30% off the Barbie Pet Supply Playset £25, down from £37.50
For mini musicians, customers can snap up the Academy of Music 54 key keyboard for just £20 reduced from £40, making a saving of 50% as well as nearly 30% off the Mi-Mic Mini Karaoke Speaker With Microphone, £17, down from £23
50% savings are available on other big brands including the Cocomelon Pram for £30 (normally £60), Hotwheels Rhinomite/Bone Shaker for £35 (normally £70) and Peppa Pig Wooden Playhouse for £52.50 (normally £105).
David Catton, Toy Buyer at Morrisons says:“We’re excited to offer our customers 50% off a range of must-have toys.
“With the festive season fast approaching, we hope this huge sale will help customers spread the cost of purchasing Christmas gifts this year.”
Morrisons toy sale is available now in 423 stores while stocks last.
Cost of living crisis brings need for financial literacy in young people into stark reality, says charity
Young Enterprise Scotland is highlighting the importance of financial education for young people during UK Savings Week.
Running from the 18th – 24th September, UK Savings Week is a campaign designed to heighten awareness of the benefits of saving, and creating positive attitudes towards financial resilience.
The call for awareness comes on the back of findings which show just 50% of 12-17 year olds in Scotland recall learning about money management in school (MaPs, 2020). A figure which is concerning in light of the current cost of living crisis.
The charity has created and developed Scotland’s Financial Schools programme to support the implementation of financial education in the curriculum, with the aim that every young person in Scotland is equipped with essential financial skills that will support them into adulthood.
The programme provides practitioners with support and a wide range of resources to develop their own understanding and support their students, including workshops, online modules, and their free ‘’Your Money Matters’ textbook, created through funding and support from Money Saving Expert, Martin Lewis. Featuring tips on budgeting, borrowing, and recognising scams and fraud, the textbook can be accessed for free on their website.
Emma Soanes, Chief Executive of Young Enterprise Scotland, said: “It has never been more important for young people to have the skills and knowledge to set them up for success, and financial education is a key component.
“We are determined that every child in Scotland should have access to financial education from an early age, and we aim to support teachers and schools to deliver this across the country.”
Financial education for young people is central to the work of Young Enterprise Scotland, which works with volunteers from the business community to deliver a future-proof programme of blended learning that is accessible to all. They also work with budding entrepreneurs, nurturing business ideas and supporting young people to bring their ideas to life, whilst developing skills and achieving their goals.
Find out more about Scotland’s Financial Schools here:
‘Stretched to the Limit: Scotland’s Third Sector and the cost of living crisis‘ brings together findings from a survey of the ALLIANCE’s organisational membership in the spring, a detailed case study from one of our members, and a workshop at our annual conference. Taken together, these paint a picture of a sector which is under intense stress.
Amongst the findings of our survey were that 84% of member organisations responding had experienced increased demand for services, yet 61% reported reduction in funding via grants, 76% were facing higher bills, and 48% were unable to give their employees pay uplifts.
Despite these challenges the third sector continues to be a lifeline for many people across Scotland, responding flexibly to the changing needs of the people it supports.
With 88% of organisations saying that they would benefit from longer-term funding arrangements, and funding arising as the focus for discussion at our conference workshop, fair funding tops our list of recommendations, which include:
Ensuring the Fair Work agenda goes beyond funding the Real Living Wage, and instead to pay that is comparable to equivalent statutory sector roles
Tailored support for organisations operating in rural Scotland
Targeted support for energy bills, and in the longer term lower energy tariff arrangements for the third sector
Adopting a human rights based approach to procurement and grant funding
Investing in services that reduce demand for acute interventions from the public and third sectors
The HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE ALLIANCE SCOTLAND is the national third sector intermediary for a range of health and social care organisations. We have a growing membership of over 3,000 national and local third sector organisations, associates in the statutory and private sectors, disabled people, people living with long term conditions and unpaid carers.
Energy regulator Ofgem has today (Friday, 25 August, 2023) announced a further reduction in the energy price cap for the last quarter of 2023 (Oct to Dec).
The change will bring the average dual-fuel energy bill below £2,000 a year for the first time since April 2022, saving households an average of £151 on the previous quarter.
From 1 October – 31 December, the cap will be set at an annual level of £1,923 for a dual fuel household paying by direct debit based on the current typical domestic consumption values (TDCV) rate.
Direct Debit
Prepayment
Standard Credit
Economy 7 (electricity only Direct Debit)
July – Sept 2023 cap
£2,074
£2,077
£2,211
£1,400
Oct – Dec 2023 cap
£1,923
£1,949
£2,052
£1,298
The drop, the lowest level since October 2021, reflects further falls in wholesale energy prices, as the market stabilises and suppliers return to a healthier financial position after four years of loss making.
Ofgem is clear that it expects all suppliers to continue improving customer service, to support their most vulnerable customers and to shore up their financial resilience to prevent the kind of failures we saw two years ago. Ofgem recognises that there is some excellent best practice across the sector but expects this to be the norm with poor practice stamped out.
Alongside changes to the price cap, Ofgem has also introduced measures to reduce costs for prepayment meter customers and ensure extra support for those facing disconnection from the network.
The price cap savings – which can be passed on more quickly to customers thanks to the price cap updating quarterly – continues the downward trend since prices peaked at £4,279. However, it remains well above the average before the energy crisis took hold in 2021 and the market remains volatile.
Jonathan Brearley, Ofgem CEO, said: “It is welcome news that the price cap continues to fall, however, we know people are struggling with the wider cost of living challenges and I can’t offer any certainty that things will ease this winter.
“That’s why we’ve introduced new measures to support consumers including reducing costs for those on pre-payment meters, and introducing a PPM code of conduct that all suppliers need to meet before they restart installation of any mandatory PPMs.
“There are signs that the financial outlook for suppliers is stabilising and reasonable profits are returning. With the small additional allowance we’ve made to Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT), this means there should be no excuses for suppliers not to be doing all they can to support their customers this winter, and to reinforce this we’ll be introducing a consumer code of conduct which we will look to have in place by winter.
“This code will ensure there are clear expectations of supplier behaviours especially for their most vulnerable consumers with whom suppliers should be reaching out proactively, with compassion and understanding. There are great examples of suppliers already doing this but I want to see this become the norm in such an essential sector that has such a big impact on people’s lives.”
Ofgem understands that while suppliers cannot control wholesale prices or fix the wider cost of living pressures hitting their customers, now the market has stabilised, they must continue improving customer service and ensure that support across the board is accessible, responsive and understanding, including giving time to make pay arrangements and directing customers to further support and advice. They must also invest in strengthening their financial resilience to protect consumers against the cost of supplier failure.
Additionally, while still low by pre-crisis levels, we are starting to see more and more competitive fixed deals coming onto the market and levels of switching are slowly increasing.
With a lower price cap and reasonable profits starting to return, there is an opportunity for this to continue to grow. Anyone considering fixing should weigh up all the facts and consider what is most important to them, whether that’s the lowest price, or the certainty of knowing exactly what they will pay each month.
It’s important customers are comparing fixed deals with the new, lower price cap announced today. Suppliers are expected to ensure they are transparent in releasing all tariff information to enable consumers to make simple comparisons of the deals available to them across the market.
While the price cap has protected households from the full extent of volatility and surges in wholesale prices over the last two years, it was originally introduced by the Government to protect the minority of consumers who did not switch rather than to cover the vast majority of consumers, as it does now.
It is a blunt tool and in the current market it has costs and as well as benefit. It’s important to look at alternative models to examine whether they could work better with the current volatile market and the move to net zero.
Ofgem has also today published:
A Final Decision to raise the Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) allowance by £10 per customer per year. Most of this increase is to cover Renewable Obligations ringfencing so that customers’ money is protected in the event of a supplier failure.
Removal of the temporary RO ringfencing allowance, worth £8 per customer and covered by the additional EBIT costs above
A new sliding scale for EBIT meaning if prices surge, the EBIT allowance reduces as a percentage preventing suppliers from making excessive cash gains from a high price market
Final decision on the allowance for additional support credit (ASC) bad debt costs – a new allowance to help ensure some of the most vulnerable consumers remain on supply this winter
Implementation of UNC840 in the cap, reducing the PPM premium
Price Cap model technical changes Final Decision
Levelisation Policy Consultation
By raising the EBIT allowance, Ofgem is taking the next step in its drive to make the retail energy sector more resilient, as we move into another difficult winter when price volatility remains a risk.
At the height of the energy crisis around 30 suppliers failed because they did not have enough capital in the reserve to stay in business – and the cost was shared among all energy consumers, adding £83 to bills.
With suppliers only now starting to recoup a portion of their multi-billion pound losses over the past four years, a small increase in permitted profit margins will allow companies to better cover their costs, attract investment and retain financial stability protecting consumers into the future.
Raising the EBIT allowance from its current rate of 1.9% to 2.4% from 1 October will involve an average £10 increase in bills per year. £8 of this will cover costs to consumers incurred by an additional requirement of suppliers to ringfence enough funds to cover their Renewable Obligations, protecting consumers from additional costs should a supplier go bust.
The EBIT rate, which is well within international norms for energy retail profits and lower than most other business sectors in Britain, will also be altered from a ‘flat rate’ to a more flexible model that tracks the price cap level and tapers as low as 1.75% in the event of another price surge in the wholesale market. This would prevent suppliers from making excessive cash profits in a high-cost market.
Strengthening the commitment to supporting struggling and vulnerable consumers, Ofgem is also reducing the cap for prepayment meter (PPM) customers by £51 per year through an updated approach to calculating the costs of unidentified gas, approved in April this year.
Using some of the benefit from this change, the regulator is now able to introduce an initial 12-month allowance to cover increased debt costs associated with Additional Support Credit that is offered to PPM customers, often at the point of disconnection. This new allowance will help ensure some of the most vulnerable consumers remain on supply this winter.
Longer term, Ofgem seeks to permanently end the PPM premium, where prepayment customers are charged more than those who pay by direct debit to cover the additional costs and resources required by suppliers to provide energy via PPM. A consultation is underway with an aim to ‘levelise’ these standing charges by April 2024 to coincide with the end of government support currently in place via the Energy Price Guarantee.
Morgan Vine, Head of Policy and Influencing at Independent Age said: “Today’s Price Cap announcement offers little comfort to older people living on a low income and struggling to get by.
“Our helpline is continuing to hear from people in later life in financial hardship who have been forced to make sacrifices to pay their bills, including eating one meal a day, washing themselves in freezing cold water, and risking falls by not turning on the lights at night.
“Gas unit costs are still well over double what they were in winter 2020/21 and electricity unit costs are up by over half. The fixed incomes of older people in financial hardship simply cannot keep up with these increases. Long term solutions to protect the most financially vulnerable from high energy prices are desperately needed.
“We’re calling on the government to introduce an energy bills social tariff for those in greatest needed, including people over 65 on a low income and those who have high energy consumption due to illness.
“This long term and sustainable solution would offer some protection to people in later life living on low incomes, so they aren’t forced to make dangerous choices now, and as we approach the winter. “
The next quarterly price cap announcement will be in November 2023, covering January – March 2024.
