The cost of cold weather
Britain's poorest are being hit hardest by plummeting temperatures
Cold weather has combined with government cuts to make life harder for some of Britain’s poorest people. That was the message from Quaker Social Action (QSA) as parts of the UK experienced several consecutive nights at sub-zero temperatures.
The charity said that many of their service users have to choose between eating properly and heating their homes. They spoke to a man with arthritis whose pain has increased because he could not afford enough heating during the extreme cold.
The charity Housing Justice warned of the danger of homeless people dying of hypothermia. Rough sleepers with alcohol problems are at particular risk, as alcohol reduces resistance to the disease.
‘Cold weather has made things immeasurably tougher for thousands of people who are already struggling to make ends meet,’ said Niall Cooper, national coordinator of Church Action on Poverty (CAP). QSA’s Rosie Marteau told the Friend that for many people the cold weather has come as an extra blow on top of benefit cuts.
Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, argues that his reforms will make the benefits system simpler and fairer. CAP and QSA insist they are making things worse.
Rosie Marteau said: ‘Every person we phoned said “It’s really useful that you’ve phoned” because “today I’ve had the bailiffs round” or “today I’ve found I can’t pay this particular bill” or “today I’ve had my benefit cut”.’ She added that there was nothing special about the day in question, but that ‘this is the daily reality of the lives of the people we work with’.
Pamela, a woman in her sixties, is one of QSA’s service users. She gave up work a few years ago due to spinal problems. Her Winter Fuel Payment has been reduced, leaving her to choose between ‘topping up the gas meter and decent food for my family’. Another QSA service user has not switched on the heating all winter, instead keeping his curtains permanently closed in an attempt to keep warm.
Paradoxically, people who can afford very little heating may lose their entitlement to a rebate designed to help with heating costs. The Warm Home Discount applies to people on certain benefits who spend at least ten per cent of their income on heating. But those who avoid turning on the heating because of the cost can find their expenditure falling below the ten per cent figure.
QSA reported that one of their service users, a single mother, had told them that ‘the idea of “Broken Britain” has been used by the government as an excuse to fix things that don’t need to be fixed while ignoring the things that do’. The Yearly Meeting of Quakers in Britain recently urged ministers to consider cuts to military expenditure as an alternative to welfare cuts.
When temperatures fall below zero, local councils have a legal obligation to give overnight shelter to homeless people. Alison Gelder, director of Housing Justice, told the Friend that the threshold can cause severe problems when homeless people are faced with temperatures only slightly above zero, sometimes made worse by rain.
She encouraged concerned individuals to contact their councils to ask what provision is being made. She said: ‘It’s important for local authorities to know that people who aren’t homeless care about what they’re doing’.
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