Calls for help on energy costs soar

THE number of people in parts of the Westcountry seeking urgent help to pay energy bills and feed their families has shot up as the cost-of-living crisis intensifies, wrties William Telford.

Citizens Advice Plymouth has reported a steep increase in requests for crisis support on energy debt and for food bank vouchers.

Calls for advice on fuel debt have risen by 78%, meaning a quarter of all people contacting Citizens Advice Plymouth are now struggling to pay their energy bills. A spokesperson for the charity said calls are coming in from people who have never been in debt on their energy bills before but are now worried about how they will cope with mounting prices.

And with household budgets being squeezed for those on the lowest incomes, Citizens Advice Plymouth said the number of requests for foodbank vouchers nearly doubled during February and March. The charity said more people are at “crisis point” and have been asking for supermarket vouchers, and donations of essential white goods – and even school uniforms.

Citizens Advice Plymouth said the energy price cap increase, which is adding an average £700 to household gas and electricity bills from April, means many now have to choose “between heating their homes or putting a hot meal on the table for their children”.

Emma Handley, chief executive of Citizens Advice Plymouth, said: “Our advisers are doing their best to help people out of a difficult situation. Every day we go through people’s income and expenditure as a part of the advice process, and sadly it is becoming more usual that income doesn’t match outgoings. For people, who aren’t on a fixed tariff with their fuel supplier, the next few months will be difficult, if not impossible.”

As an example the charity revealed how Natasha (not her real name) is existing on an exceptionally tight budget.

Natasha, a single mother of a toddler, doesn’t have any support from the father of the child and lives from paycheck to paycheck. She often borrows money from her family to make ends meet.

Childcare responsibilities allow her to work only 25 hours a week, and therefore, she must top up her earnings with benefits.

Because of an autoimmune disease, Natasha must keep her house warm as the cold significantly impacts her health condition and ability to work, but the the prepayment meter runs out of money faster than it has ever done. Thanks to Citizens Advice Plymouth she now has support from the Household Support Fund.