Government vouchers to be launched to help with fuel costs
September 23, 2008
According to a recent report the government is to introduce vouchers that may be made available to some families in order to help them cope with soaring energy costs. The voucher plan is estimated to be costing £600 million and those eligible could be in line for vouchers of £50 or £100 to help pay for their energy costs. The scheme is being considered as part of the Prime Minister’s autumn relaunch according to government officials.
Up to six million people who claim child tax credit could find themselves in line to receive one of these vouchers. The voucher can then be redeemed against their fuel bill. However, officials state that this voucher would barely scratch the surface given the number and extent of rises that consumers have had to face over recent months, such as rising food bills, rising energy bills, soaring petrol costs, and more.
MPs from opposition parties have questioned how the government can afford to put this scheme into place, and why the taxpayer should end up footing the bill for the soaring energy prices that the big energy suppliers keep applying.
One Liberal Democrat MP said: ‘This is a seriously bad idea. It only covers a proportion of the problems of the poorest families. And why should taxpayers be paying it rather than the energy companies?’
An official from National Energy Action said: ‘People won’t really have faith in this working for them. I think we need something that’s far more straightforward. Payments with benefit through the tax credit system might be more sensible.’
Another official added: ‘This is going to cost the Government £600m. You could choose to target the poorest half getting child tax credit and that would halve the cost. It would have a smaller impact overall, but it would still ensure that the poorest got the money.’
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