PRESSURE is mounting on the government to help Islanders struggling with the rising cost of living after the UK revealed £15 billion in measures to address the crisis there.
Several organisations – including the Consumer Council, Caritas Jersey and the Shelter Trust – haven spoken out after UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a major support package that will see nearly eight million vulnerable households receive £1,200 in one-off support in total this year to assist them with living costs.
Shelter Trust chair Neville Benbow said the extent of government support in the Island so far, which includes £20 extra a month for the most vulnerable residents, was an ‘extraordinary indictment of our leadership in Jersey’.
He asked: ‘How can that in itself be considered sufficient?’
UK measures include a one-off £400 grant to help with energy bills, a £650 one-off cost-of-living payment for those on means-tested benefits – given in two instalments – as well as a one-off £300 payment for pensioner households to help them cover the rising cost of energy this winter, among other things.
Consumer Council chair Carl Walker – who recently wrote to Chief Minister John Le Fondré asking him to consider actions such as a reduction in fuel duty and a winter fuel credit of £100 per household – said: ‘The measures announced by the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer reinforce the pleas from Jersey consumers for additional support from our government. When we made our request months ago it was because we knew how much some members of the community were struggling.
‘Sadly, all of the warning signs indicate that we are in for a very tough winter indeed – the window for action was in April and May and by the time the new government is formed and in a position to make an impact, it may already be too late.’
He added: ‘There is no time to come up with complicated eligibility requirements – Islanders should be able to receive support as soon as possible and while there may be those who claim it unnecessarily, I am sure the vast majority of people who take advantage of such schemes will be those who are genuinely in need.’
At the end of March, Social Security Minister Judy Martin announced the Cost of Living Temporary Scheme, which runs until the end of the year and provides £20 per person a month for households on income support, which equates to an extra £80 for two adults and two children.
Mr Walker said: ‘So far the government has offered £20 a month to those already receiving government help but there are many more Islanders who are struggling.’
His comments were echoed by Mr Benbow, who said: ‘There are a lot of vulnerable people here in Jersey – not just those who are homeless but those who are at risk of becoming homeless. We have seen what the UK government has to offer but the most Jersey’s government has done is offer those on income support £20 per month – that is an extraordinary indictment of our leadership in Jersey – how can that in itself be considered sufficient? Costs are growing day by day and everybody is noticing it.’
Chief executive of Caritas Jersey – which promotes adoption of the ‘living wage’ in the Island – Patrick Lynch, said: ‘I do think more needs to be done and certainly when the next government [ministers] take up their posts it needs to be treated as a priority.’
He added: ‘There is also a growing realisation that wages need to rise but this is not happening quickly enough. There does need to be support across the board, whether that’s a reduction in [fuel] duty or other measures.’
The living wage is an amount of money that enables the recipient to maintain a ‘normal’ standard of living within their community.
And Richard Nunn, of the Salvation Army, said: ‘You have to remember that the government did step up with a huge package of support during Covid – but if I was in government I would be concerned about whether income support and benefits are keeping up with the cost of living, and what it can also do for those who are not on income support but are starting to fall into debt and poverty.’
