What extra support measures or regulations do you expect the government to bring in this winter?

CRISPIANNE3

QrizB said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

In my case I have reduced my usage from 4900 kw's of electricity down to 3200 per annum.

That's a good reduction, 35% or so. Did you take any particular steps or was it a ruthless process to cut each an every unnecessary use?

We reduced the temperature we wash our clothes in the washing machine. We have found washing at 20 deg is fine for us. We also now have a smart meter installed and thats seems to help as well. No longer filling the kettle up and just filling for two cups of coffee. The dish washer is on the economical cycle and the dryer for our clothes is a heat pump one. We also now only use the electric over if we really have to and tend to use the microwave or pressure cooker more.

We never leave anything on standby any more and use all energy saving lights.

What_time_is_it

So... as a country we seem to be still sleepwalking into this crisis.

Where are the government? What are they doing?
How can they pretend to be surprised by today's news on the price cap? Perhaps someone in government needs an account on this forum?

Make no mistake, this is a national disaster and we have a government that is still burying their heads in the sand and who seem content to largely leave it to the market. The market is broken. Without action and planning (not reacting, panic, and on-the-hoof policy making) now, the country will be broken.

Evan3020

Any suggestions?

SAC2334

CRISPIANNE3 said:

It is now up to us all to help ourselves. I think the government have done as much as they can.  I now help myself by cutting down on my usage and not keep blaming the government.

In my case I have reduced my usage from 4900 kw's of electricity down to 3200 per annum.

Yes I m quite happy personally after working out what my monthly direct debit  will be after Oct 1 st using Cornwall Insight figures . 45p kwh electric and 14 p kwh gas 

The extra £300 OAP winter payment grant will go direct to my gas account and the £66 a month deduction on electric bill means I can use a similar amount as I normally do , eg 8000 gas kwhs and 2000 kwh electric .

I am making cutbacks too . I expect everyone else is doing the same thing , and getting into the habit of not wasting energy .

Max68

What_time_is_it said:

So... as a country we seem to be still sleepwalking into this crisis.

Where are the government? What are they doing?
How can they pretend to be surprised by today's news on the price cap? Perhaps someone in government needs an account on this forum?

Make no mistake, this is a national disaster and we have a government that is still burying their heads in the sand and who seem content to largely leave it to the market. The market is broken. Without action and planning (not reacting, panic, and on-the-hoof policy making) now, the country will be broken.

Totally agree.  I sadly lost a life long associate a couple of weeks ago.  Took his own life due to the financial strain he was under and looking to the winter he couldn't see a way out, so he took the extreme.  The pressures on providing for a family are immense at the best of times and sadly I am sure he wasn't the first and won't be the last. 

Mstty

For one we are a rudderless country at the moment and the outgoing PM has refused any more help as that is down to the incoming PM.

Perfect timing 

MattMattMattUK

What_time_is_it said:

So... as a country we seem to be still sleepwalking into this crisis.

I do not think we are sleepwalking anywhere, we seem full aware of the cost increases, I am also not sure it is a crisis, something can be unwanted and not needing to be labelled a crisis or an emergency.

What_time_is_it said:

Where are the government? 

On holiday.

What_time_is_it said:

What are they doing?

Holidaying.

What_time_is_it said:

How can they pretend to be surprised by today's news on the price cap? 

They are not as far as I am aware surprised by the cap, apart from maybe a few idiot MPs shuffling out in front of a camera pretending that they are surprised so that they do not have to make an immediate statement.

What_time_is_it said:

Perhaps someone in government needs an account on this forum?

There are already enough people who come on here and post inaccurate information, we do not need any more of that kind of poster.

What_time_is_it said:

Make no mistake, this is a national disaster and we have a government that is still burying their heads in the sand and who seem content to largely leave it to the market.

This is not a "national disaster", hyperbole helps no one. I do not think that they are burying their heads in the sand either, they know the situation, they have already thrown £20 billion at it and will hold fire for a while longer before they decide to take any further action. These price rises will not kick in until October, so there will still be a full month for the new Conservative leader to announce new measures so that they can be the saviour should they wish, although with it likely being Truss I would not hold my breath on that. There is no way Boris Johnson in this period would announce anything and the reality is that ever if there was going to be an announcement before October there is no harm in waiting four more weeks to announce it. They are also not leaving it to the market.

What_time_is_it said:

The market is broken. 

The government broke the market with the price cap.

What_time_is_it said:

Without action and planning (not reacting, panic, and on-the-hoof policy making) now, the country will be broken.

Again hyperbole, the country will not be broken. There will be a drop in living standards as there always is with a recession, in 3-5 years living standards will be above current levels again, that is just the nature of the cycle. 

MattMattMattUK

Mstty said:

For one we are a rudderless country at the moment and the outgoing PM has refused any more help as that is down to the incoming PM.

Perfect timing 

Why the need to do anything immediately though? The new PM will be installed at the start of September, these prices will not kick in until October. Civil servants will have already drawn up a range of possible actions, the new PM will be able to choose to act, or not, at the point that they take office. 

I suspect that they will probably increase the £400/66pcm payment, I do not think that is a sensible course of action, but it will go down best over all and the new PM will enjoy being able to hand out some free money as that always buys popularity. Although there is a change that if it is Truss (and unfortunately it probably will be) then the new PM will choose to not change anything with the energy support already in place. 

Max68

I got my usage down dramatically from 316 units of electricity and 75 gas in 2021 to 241 and 33 respectively in February 2022.  July 2021 295 and 11 down to 181 and 7 in July 2022.  The 7 must be just the hot water.  Bills still hit £80-£110 and that's pre April prices for February!! For a few weeks in January I tried having heating on only one hour a day, but the house was so cold condensation and damp started appearing, as did mould.  So ended up having it limited at 18.5c with two hours in morning and two hours in evening.  Didn't use a great deal more to be honest as I suspect the boiler wasn't working as hard to stay at 18.5.  That's part of the problem, you can live in an ice box but certainly it may create problems with damp in many houses, not considering damage to pipes if they are too cold.  The one thing I found that did help and also helps on these hot days was a curtain on the door that leads from lounge to porch.  The porch can get very hot or cold and that curtain really helps keep that hot or cold draught out.  Bar that I wore a coat indoors all winter with fleece throws and fleece bedding and I was still cold!  Not looking forward to this winter at all.

Mstty

MattMattMattUK said:

Mstty said:

For one we are a rudderless country at the moment and the outgoing PM has refused any more help as that is down to the incoming PM.

Perfect timing 

Why the need to do anything immediately though? The new PM will be installed at the start of September, these prices will not kick in until October. Civil servants will have already drawn up a range of possible actions, the new PM will be able to choose to act, or not, at the point that they take office. 

I suspect that they will probably increase the £400/66pcm payment, I do not think that is a sensible course of action, but it will go down best over all and the new PM will enjoy being able to hand out some free money as that always buys popularity. Although there is a change that if it is Truss (and unfortunately it probably will be) then the new PM will choose to not change anything with the energy support already in place. 

No need at all, just stating what was happening so no point moaning until the new PM is in. Up to them if they want to do anything.

Truss says remove the green levies 8% 

Sunak remove VAT 5%