Cost of living updates

UPDATE: January 2023

Vulnerable households across Bosworth will receive a further £900 this financial year.

Exact payment windows will be announced closer to the time. They will be broadly as follows:

£301 – First Cost of Living Payment – during Spring 2023

£300 – Second Cost of Living Payment – during Autumn 2023

£299 – Third Cost of Living Payment – during Spring 2024

 

People claiming certain disability benefits and pensioners will receive a one-off payment:

£150 – Disability Payment – during Summer 2023

£300 – Pensioner Payment – during Winter 2023/4

 

Also announced in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on November 17th:

• Commitment to the Triple Lock, meaning pensions with increase in line with inflation.
• 10.1% increase for people in receipt of Pension Credit, worth up to £1,470 for a couple and £960 for a single pensioner.
• Uprating benefits in line with inflation for 10 million working-age families, costing around £11 billion.
• Largest ever increase in the National Living Wage, bringing it to £10.42 an hour.
• £1 billion year-long extension of the Household Support Fund in England and associated devolved nations.

 

More information on the help available for households to assist with cost of living pressures can be found here: Cost of Living Payment - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

 

Finally, and importantly, please be cautious of scams. You do not need to apply for any of this support and you will not be asked for your bank details at any point.

Forward any suspicious emails to [email protected] or forward the text to 7726 (for free).

If you believe you have been the victim of an online scam or fraud, please call 0300 123 2040.

 

2022 

Below is an overview of the support available to help deal with the cost of living pressures. 

 

• Energy Price Guarantee – Caps unit prices and standing charges, from October 1st, for domestic electricity and gas. This is following the news that the price cap was to start at £3,549 from October 3rd.

  • This means people can save money on bills by taking sensible steps to reduce energy use where possible.

• Energy Bill Relief Scheme – Places a cap on wholesale gas and electricity unit prices for non-domestic users such as businesses, charities, schools and hospitals which will heavily reduce their energy costs from October 1st to March 31st 2023.

• Energy Bills Support Scheme – Relief for energy bills has also been doubled to £400 for every household and will not need to be repaid. The £400 will be credited directly to energy accounts starting in October 2022 – that is for all homes and will be paid over six months. 

• Council Tax Rebate – A non-repayable £150 Council Tax Rebate for English households on Council Tax bands A-D. 

  • Announced £144 million of discretionary funding for Local Authorities to support households not eligible for the Council Tax Rebate.

• Low Income Benefits and Tax Credits – Those on means-tested benefits will also receive a payment of £650 paid in 2 lump sums of £326 and £324, the first from July, the second in the autumn. 

• Pensioner Cost of Living Payment –pensioners are to receive a one-off £300 payment.  

  • I was pleased to see the former Chancellor Rishi Sunak announce that the triple lock will apply to the state pension: Chancellor announces return of the Triple Lock and cost of living support | Dr Luke Evans MP

  • Those who think they, or a loved one, may be eligible for Pension Credits should check their eligibility here: Pension Credit: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Pension Credit is the country's most underclaimed benefit, it is expected that across the nation 850,000 people are eligible but not claiming. 

• Disability Cost of Living Payment – Around 6 million people who receive a disability benefit will also receive a one-off £150 payment. 

• Household Support Fund – Allocated £1 billion for helping those in need on bills and other essentials. In England, the fund will be distributed via upper-tier Local Authorities, such as County Councils.

  • At least a third of the £500 million extension funding (£140m) will be spent on pensioners on low incomes and at least another third (£140m) will be spent on families with children.

  • Those in need of support should contact their local council to find out more information and help them access the fund.

• National Living Wage increase – Increased the National Living Wage by 6.6% to £9.50 an hour, which equates to an extra £1000 a year for a full-time worker.

• Raised the Personal Threshold for National Insurance Contributions – Implemented an increase from £9,568 to £12,570, which came into effect on July 6th.

  • This means 30 million people will have their take-home pay boosted by up to £330.

  • Find out how these changes could help you: Estimate how the National Insurance contributions changes will affect you - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

• Cut Fuel Duty – Implemented a cut of 5p per litre on fuel for a full year, at a cost of £6 billion.

• The Energy Company Obligation Scheme (ECO4) – The scheme places an obligation on energy suppliers to install energy efficiency and heating measures to people’s homes. It will support around 450,000 homes and is expected to save on average £290 a year for the most vulnerable people with up to £1,600 for those living in the least efficient homes. The savings could average £600 this winter. You can read more about the announcement here: Statement from the Energy Minister on the Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) Order 2022

 

For further details and information on the support, please see this link: Support available for the cost of living | Dr Luke Evans MP

To read about my work on the cost of living, please see here: My work on the cost of living | Dr Luke Evans MP