Pensioners face a "dire" winter as energy bills are set to hit a three-year high. Campaigners warned that struggling older people will be forced to take "drastic action" after Ofgem raised the price cap by 4% from October. And prices are expected to keep going up with a further 9% hike predicted in the new year.
Campaigners warn of 'dire winter'
Dennis Reed, director of the Silver Voices campaign group, raised fears that thousands of pensioners could die prematurely from the cold. He said: "Andy Burnham needs to do much more than kindly words to head off a dire winter for poor pensioner households.
"As Silver Voices warned at the time, this latest price cap increase swallows up the paltry VAT cut announced by Burnham when he entered Downing Street."Millions of older people have struggled to keep themselves cool during this scorching summer and now face an extreme El Niño winter, according to forecasters.
"If extra support is not provided and we get an extremely cold winter, thousands of older people will die prematurely, everyone a dear grandparent or relative."Wake up and smell the coffee, Andy, pensioners desperately need your support this winter."
Price cap rise details
Mr Reed called for the tax-free personal allowance, which has been frozen at £12,570 since 2021, to be increased in the upcoming Budget. He said: "The best way to help people with the general cost of living crisis would be to raise the lower tax threshold in the Autumn Budget by £1,000, to help both pensioners and low-paid working families."
Energy regulator Ofgem announced yesterday [WEDS] that its price cap will rise by £60 per year to £1,723 for a typical household using gas and electricity from October 1. And analysts at Cornwall Insight have forecast another 9% increase in January, which would take an average bill to £1,872 a year. The increase is due to higher wholesale gas prices amid the ongoing Iran conflict.
Households already faced an eye-watering 13% price cap jump in July, but the upcoming hikes will come as the weather is cold and people will be using their heating more. Campaigners have raised concerns about older people as 1.7 million are living in poverty and another one million are close to the breadline, according to figures from the Department for Work and Pensions.
Reactions from charities and politicians
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said Ofgem's announcement "will ring alarm bells for those older people who have repeatedly faced tough choices during the last few years of energy price hikes, and who now have nothing left to cut back on". She added: "With energy prices set to rise yet again the Government needs to take decisive action to protect the older people in greatest need."
Independent Age Chief Executive Joanna Elson said the energy price cap rise will "heap more pressure on the already stretched budgets of the 1.7 million older people in the UK living in poverty and the million others teetering on the brink". She said: "With winter on the horizon, older people on low incomes will once again be forced to take drastic action to keep themselves warm as rising energy bills eat away at already inadequate incomes.
"Each winter we hear heartbreaking testimony from older people wearing winter clothing to bed to fend off the cold, being forced to choose between putting food on the table or using their heating, and some are abandoning their cold homes altogether to find warmth in public buildings."We are urging Andy Burnham's government to protect people on low incomes, including people in later life, from relentless energy price hikes."
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said soaring energy costs are "difficult" for people as he highlighted his policy to remove VAT from electricity bills. The measure is expected to save a typical household around £45 - less than the October energy price cap increase.
Speaking during a visit to a supermarket in London, Mr Burnham said: "It's difficult for people and I recognise that."But it's why, within days of taking office, I announced that we would remove VAT off electricity bills to give people that little bit of help."That kicks in from October. We know the price cap will have an impact, but it is what we can do right now."We'll continue to look as we go forward at how we get energy prices down in the long term, and that's what we need to do too."
The Tories hit out at Labour over the party's manifesto pledge to slash energy bills by £300 a year. Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho said: "Labour promised to cut energy bills by £300, but they have gone up by nearly £400 instead."Our Cheap Power Plan would cut energy bills for households and businesses by scrapping Government taxes and levies on bills, and it wouldn't cost the taxpayer a penny. We have to put cheap energy first."
Reform UK's Robert Jenrick called on Labour to "drop your net zero dogma" to bring down energy bills. He added: "I cannot, for the life of me, understand why anyone would want to put net zero ideology above the interests of British people this winter, who are going to find life very, very tough."
Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said the Government will "keep looking at what more we can do to protect families from unaffordable bills".
Age UK comment and calls for support
Comment by Age UK energy policy manager Dion Tickner: "It's been nearly five years since energy prices first skyrocketed. Now, bills are going up again and for many older people, there's nothing left to cut back on. Years of tough choices have left them feeling worn down, so this news will be hard to hear.
"It is a reminder of something we at Age UK have called out before: the system meant to protect people from these rises should do much more to help.
"We support the Government's determination to bring bills down for good, but while prices stay this high and are so unstable the most vulnerable need financial support, they can rely on.
"The Warm Home Discount is a good example. It's a good scheme, but due to rising prices it provides only half the support it did 10 years ago, and some older people miss out because they're not claiming an eligible benefit or fall just outside the criteria.
"We'd like to see it extended to reach people in need beyond only those claiming benefits, and for it also to give priority to those with serious health conditions.
"A big reform like this takes time and won't be ready for this winter. That's why we're also calling for three temporary measures to help people through the coming months, while longer term solutions are put in place.
"We think the Government should raise the Warm Home Discount to £200 for this winter; create an application route for households on low incomes to apply for support through their energy supplier; and top up the Crisis and Resilience Fund so local councils can respond quickly to people in financial difficulty in their areas.
"No older person should face another winter fretting they can't afford to stay warm. Getting this right is how we make sure they don't have to."
