COUNCIL TENANTS FACE 60% TORY HIKE IN ENERGY CHARGES

Heating and electricity charges to council tenants are to increase by a whopping 60% from 24 November to balance a council budget!

A tenant in a bedsit will pay £7.50 extra per week! An 86% increase on last year's charge.

A couple or pensioners in a 1 bedroom home will pay £8.50 extra per week!

A family in a 2 bedroom home will pay £10.72 extra per week!

A family in a 3 bedroom home will pay an extortionate £11.61 per week!

In a speech to the Tory Council Executive, Shadow Housing Portfolio Holder, Cllr Denzil Coulson said:

" A pensioner receiving a basic pension of £124.05 per week would have to pay 15% of his or her income in a 1 bedroom home on heating. This is above the 10% Fuel Poverty standard. Even if you include the Winter Fuel Payment of £250 for couples or single pensioners, this still cuts very close to the 10% line.

For a single mum aged 25 living in a two bed with 2 kids she would get £91.85 so not only do you get fuel poverty you get child poverty. She would pay 25% of her income on heating!

For a single person aged 23 in a bedsit, their income support income would be weekly - £47.95. This means that this single person would pay 34% of his income on heating charges. This is way above the Fuel Poverty standard of 10%. Perhaps the Tories would like to live on that for a month and pay their water rates as well. This is even worse for a disabled single person without a Disability Living Allowance.

71% of affected residents are over 60 and qualify for the winter fuel payment. 29% do not. (742 units versus 305 units).

What is even worse is that affected residents are not individually metered. They can neither reduce their usage nor can they change provider.

I add further. Never mind the fact that:

These charges are proposed to be increased right at the beginning of winter! This is when our tenants need heating and electricity the most. And we are going to make them pay dearly for these services just so that we can balance a budget?

Where is the humanity behind this decision?

Where is the morality of this decision?

People - particularly the vulnerable - are already paying higher fuel, transport and food prices. And now this Council is planning to hurt our most vulnerable even more with these ridiculous increases?

This flies in the face of this Council's commitment to alleviate Fuel Poverty and our policies on Health and Well-Being. It is no good just helping tenants with advice and funding to make their homes more energy efficient as outlined in this Council's Fuel Poverty Strategy and Housing Strategy and then slamming tenants with an almost double increase in year on year fuel charges. Tenants will say why bother when the Council treats me this way?

And if you think that benefits will cover these costs, it does not. So if you believe that tenants can claim money back from the Government, they cannot.

Worst of all, Council tenants have not even been consulted about these charges or ways to help them with alternatives?

This is what this Conservative Council is telling tenants.

You are not important enough for us to help you cope with rising living costs. All we are interested in is balancing budgets to provide lower council tax for the most well-off residents of Woking.

This is shameful.

Here are our solutions for helping tenants suffering from Fuel Poverty.

1. Do not pass on the increases in heating and electricity charges on to council tenants without full consultation with council tenants and exploring alternatives to find alternative funding to balance the HRA budget.

2. We demand that the council offer benefit checks to all affected people using agencies known to them by writing letters and providing a helpline number to all our affected tenants.

3. We insist that there should be individual metering so that people only pay for what they use. We have not been given a comparative unit cost with the private sector and our tenants are not being given the opportunity to change provider that other tenants currently enjoy. That is my question on this point.

4. Reduce the incidence of fuel poverty in the Borough by training front line Council staff in identifying and alleviating fuel poverty.

5. Promote availability of heating and insulation grants through Warm Front and Carbon Emission Reduction Target programmes at roadshows and other events for older or vulnerable persons.

6. Carry out mailshot to those on benefits promoting the uptake of Carbon Emission Reduction Target and Warm Front.

7. Work in partnership with other Local Authorities on project to promote assistance for fuel poverty.

8. Produce information leaflet outlining assistance available for fuel poor such as debt advice, fuel switching and social tariffs and make available to vulnerable groups."