HOUSEHOLDS across the borough face a double whammy this winter following the decision by Centrica to increase household gas bills by up to 35%, it is claimed.
Ellesmere Port Tory Parliamentary Candidate Stuart Penketh adds he has learned the Government has also slashed the money available to help cash-strapped families insulate their homes.
The budget for the popular “Warm Front” grant programme has been cut by a quarter, with 50,000 households set to lose out on measures such as cavity wall insulation, he said.
Mr Penketh said: “We know, from the Government's own figures that every 1% rise in energy prices pushes another 40,000 people into difficulty.
“These are the very people who would benefit from reducing their energy use by better insulation of their homes.”
National Energy Action works to improve energy insulation in low income households. They have warned that, unless the Government takes immediate action to halt the escalating crisis, up to 5.5 million households, including all pensioners and families on basic benefits, could find themselves living in fuel poverty by the end of the year.
Shadow Energy Minister Charles Hendry said “These increases will come as a shock to every home in the country. Britain is being hit especially hard, as the Government has utterly failed to prepare for rising fuel prices during the years of relatively low bills.
“It has not done enough to improve energy efficiency in the home; not built sufficient gas storage; and hasn’t succeeded in negotiating an open market across the European energy sector.”
Stuart Penketh has also urged the Government to cut car taxes.
He said: “I welcome the news that our MP Andrew Miller reckons the next car to be produced in Ellesmere Port’s Vauxhall Motors factory could be electric.
“But if the motor industry is to survive this economic downturn so that there is a plant still in Ellesmere Port, Gordon Brown should get rid of his showroom tax and cut the fuel duty immediately.
“We need to keep the industry in as competitive a shape as possible.”
