The Liberal Democrats have welcomed measures put in place to help families in East Yorkshire with the cost of living crisis.
Cllr David Nolan, leader of the LibDems said that any support offered has to be welcomed. However, he also said that families on universal credit would still be no better off.
Earlier this week the council said they would tap into their reserve funds as households struggle to cope with soaring costs.
Cllr Nolan said:
“Any support for hard-pressed families has to be welcomed but it is only a sticking plaster. There are 150,000 households in the East Riding and many are feeling the pinch of soaring energy and food bills and now rising mortgage payments.”
£500,000 is better than nothing but it doesn’t go very far across the East Riding. It’s an average per household of £3.33 and it’s only a one-off. Even if it is targeted at the poorest 10% of East riding households (15,000) it is still only a one-off payment of £33.30.”
Families Will Lose £1000 After Cuts To Universal Credit
“To put it in context, when the government removed the Universal Credit uplift of £20 per week, it cost our poorest households £1000 a year. They’ve lost £1000 and are being given the equivalent of £33.30.”
“The council’s ability to do what it can is very limited as its budget is already squeezed. What is needed is government intervention, including an immediate cut in VAT by 2.5% and a commitment to raise benefits in line with inflation.”
“There should be a reversal in tax cuts for the rich and instead give help for the poor and squeezed middle-income families.”
“Last week the Lib Dems proposed in Council that we urge the Government to levy a windfall tax on the obscene profits of oil and gas companies, instead of loading the debt onto households.”
“The Conservative Councillors voted down our proposal as they didn’t want to be seen to criticise their government.”
