‘Urgent action needed for families’

BARNSLEY councillors have called on the government to spare thousands of local families from soaring energy bills by cancelling October’s price cap increase – accusing the Conservatives of ‘stalling in the face of a national emergency’.

The price cap is currently £1,971 a year for a typical household having gone up by £693 – 54 per cent – in April.

The new cap is expected to be around £3,400 – an increase of around £1,400 or 70 per cent.

The Liberal Democrats’ calls to axe the rise would save a typical household in Barnsley an extra £1,812 a year, they claim.

The 70 per cent increase in the energy price cap – expected to be announced by Ofgem later this month – would be cancelled, with the government instead paying the shortfall to energy suppliers so that they can afford to supply customers at the current rates.

This would mean a total estimated saving for households in Barnsley of £198m on their electricity and gas bills.

Coun Hannah Kitching, who leads the Lib Dems in Barnsley and represents the Penistone West ward, said: “Hard-working families in Barnsley and Penistone are already struggling to make ends meet, and are deeply concerned about how they will cope with the predicted rise in energy bills.

“This Conservative government is stalling in the face of a national emergency and, yet again, is simply not doing enough to put money back in the pockets of hard-working people.

“Countless families and pensioners across Barnsley are already struggling, and they cannot wait for a new Conservative leader to act.

“This is an emergency, and the government must step in now to help families and pensioners in Barnsley by cancelling the planned rise in energy bills this October.”

The party is also calling for more targeted support for vulnerable and low-income households.

This would include doubling the warm homes discount to £300 and extending it to all those on Universal Credit, while investing in insulating fuel poor homes to bring prices down in the long-term.

Coun Peter Fielding, of the Dodworth ward, added: “The Labour Party’s response to this cost-of-living crisis has been woeful, too.

“They were slow to call for a windfall tax and have been slow to call for meaningful action on the price cap.

“Yet again it has been left to the Liberal Democrats to lead the way in standing up for struggling residents who do not know how they will afford to heat their homes this winter.”