Concern for pensioners as utility and tax bills rocket
Posted by Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness, at 18:06, Mon 27 February 2006:
Local MP, Graham Stuart, today added his concern at the news that council tax, gas, electricity and water bills will all be rising this year by above the rate of inflation. Combined bills for a typical household are now passing the £2,000 a year mark. Yet the Government has responded by deciding to end the £200 payment given to pensioners to help with council tax.
- Council tax bills, already at a record high, are forecast to rise across England by another 4.3 per cent from April. Council tax in the East Riding of Yorkshire has already risen by 59 per cent since 1997.
- Water bills will rise by almost 6 per cent nationally.
- Gas and electricity bills are also going through the roof, with British Gas announcing a further 22 per cent increase in gas and in electricity, on top of previous hikes.
- By contrast, the Government’s estimate of consumer price inflation in 2006 is just 2 per cent.
Graham said, “All families will feel the pain of these soaring bills. But I am very concerned that the elderly, on fixed incomes, are the most likely to suffer from rocketing gas, electricity and water costs on top of council tax. The elderly are also most at risk from fuel poverty in cold months.
“Yet the Government response is to withdraw the £200 payment towards pensioners’ council tax bills, which now appears to have been an election year one-off. I believe that people who have worked hard all their lives deserve security and dignity in retirement, and they have been sadly let down.”
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