By Cllr Jason Brock
The news last week that Ofgem will be setting the annual energy ‘price cap’ for an average household at £3,549 will be extremely worrying for a great many people.
The annual figure is not even a cap in any meaningful sense, because the only price actually regulated is the per unit cost of gas and electricity.
As such, there will be people, both in our town and elsewhere, who pay more over the next year than the £3,549 figure quoted.
The present crisis has demonstrated the inherent weaknesses at the heart of Britain’s energy security policy, especially because of the country’s overreliance on gas for both electricity production and home heating.
It also reveals that the regulatory framework in which Ofgem operates is poorly designed for a period of crisis. Resolving these deficiencies will take time, although the work must be done at pace by our national Government and politicians, but my principal concern is the immediate needs of residents over the coming winter and beyond.
In making the announcement on the price increases, the Chief Executive of Ofgem did also call on the Government to do more to support households financially.
It isn’t entirely clear that anyone in Government is listening, however. In the heat of a Conservative leadership contest which will determine our next Prime Minister – the outcome of which is increasingly treated as preordained – one would have thought that this would be the perfect time for the candidates to lay out their clear visions for the immediate crisis.
Alas, we are still entirely unsure as to what they will do.
The present package of support is a confusing and convoluted nexus of different schemes, many of which are poorly targeted.
Schemes like the £150 payment for those living in properties in Council Tax Bands A-D appear to have been designed by a Conservative Government more interested in political considerations than in sound economic and social policy. The end result was a payment that appears insignificant in the face of the coming winter.
In the coming months, the scale of financial help for households will have to be much higher than presently allocated. Government will have to be much more targeted in helping those on lower incomes and, to avoid another round of messy policymaking on the hoof, there must be contingency in place for a likely further rise in energy costs in January.
Tax cuts – apparently all the rage when courting the votes of Conservative members – will do little or nothing for those on the lowest incomes, including a great many pensioners.
One of my key asks would be for an extension to the Household Support Fund.
This pot is used by local councils to provide targeted support and, in Reading, has been used to support families and pensioners with energy and food costs.
It is absolutely vital that this provision is increased, especially since councils (by their nature) understand specific challenges and need in their areas better than national Government does.
Ultimately, I cannot get away from my frustration that the Government is abdicating its responsibility to act as safeguard of the people’s welfare.
I’m sure that the next Prime Minister will throw together some scheme in haste, but in that circumstance won’t be adequate or properly considered.
I have no confidence that it will place genuine need over political expedition. Labour have produced a detailed policy that would help everyone in Britain and, since time is of the essence, I hope the Conservatives set aside their pride and adopt it.
Cllr Jason Brock is the leader of Reading Borough Council and Labour ward councillor for Southcote
