Councillors urged to declare a ‘cost of living emergency’ across Wakefield

Councillors will be asked to support the proposal which calls upon the Government to take action to support residents struggling to cope with the huge increase in energy bills.

The motion also calls for greater support to be given to pensioners across the district.

Knottingley Liberal Democrat councillor Tom Gordon has proposed the motion which will be put to a full council meeting on Wednesday June 29.

“On April 2022, Ofgem increased the energy price cap by 54 per cent.

“In light of the increased energy price cap, the average standard tariff energy bill will increase by £693 per year.

“The average pre-pay meter energy bill will increase by £708 per year.

“On 6 April 2022, the Government increased National Insurance by 1.25 per cent, which is projected to cost the average family an additional £108 per year.

“The Government has suspended the pensions ‘triple lock’ for 2022/3, meaning that local pensioners will see a rise of 3.1 per cent this year (instead of 8.3 per cent under the triple lock formula).

“This year, this will cost residents across our local authority on the full new state pension an average of £487, and on the full basic state pension an average of £373.”

The report also states that figures from the Trussell Trust charity show that Wakefield food banks distributed 4,751 food parcels, an increase of 20 per cent on the previous year.

The proposed motion calls upon Government to take the following action:

– Immediately impose a windfall tax on the super profits of oil and gas companies and use this to take an average of £600 off a Wakefield districts residents’ energy bills this year.

– Reduce the standard rate of VAT from 20 per cent to 17.5 per cent for one year, saving the average household a further £600 this year.

– Re-introduce the pensions triple lock to support Wakefield District’s pensioners