SIGNIFICANT price increases affecting Islanders ‘across all walks of life’ should have been addressed before the election, the Jersey Consumer Council has said – amid unprecedented rises in food, fuel, housing and energy costs.
Council chair Carl Walker has levelled heavy criticism at the government for ‘passing the problem along’ and leaving a ‘wasted opportunity’ to help Islanders deal with soaring bills that are likely to worsen as winter approaches.
Data available on the pricecomparison.je website shows that the average price of most essential food products has risen significantly over the course of a year. The increase is likely to hit consumers already struggling with their weekly shop the hardest. Basic food items have risen in price, including the cost of pasta, which increased from 86 pence per 500 grams in July 2021 to £1.04 this month. In the same period a six-pack of eggs went from £1.33 to £1.50 and a litre of sunflower oil rose from £1.53 to £2.32.
Meanwhile, the lowest pump prices – including GST – for a litre of diesel and unleaded petrol across Jersey have gone from around £1.17 to £1.74 and £1.16 to £1.70 respectively, with some forecourts now charging more than £1.90.
The latest House Price Index has shown that the average cost of a home in the Island was £660,000 for the first quarter of 2022 – around £90,000 higher than it was for the same period in 2021.
Solid-fuel distributors have also warned of major increases in the price of coal and wood – and Jersey Electricity recently confirmed its costs would rise by 5% in July and again by the same amount in January, with each jump adding around £1 a week to the average domestic bill.
Mr Walker said: ‘We have all seen many price rises or spikes in different consumables over the years. What is different, and indeed worrying, this time, is that we are seeing large price increases across all walks of life. Food, fuel, energy, services and property – everything but people’s wages are going through the roof, so there is no escape.’
Mr Walker wrote to Chief Minister John Le Fondré in March asking him to consider temporary measures to address the growing costs – which included calls for a reduction in fuel duty by 9p a litre among other things.
‘We invited the Council of Ministers to take some action earlier in the year, as we could see this coming. We understand worse will come in the autumn too. But the current government decided to pass the problem along to whoever forms the new government during the summer, which was a wasted opportunity to make a difference,’ Mr Walker said.
‘What they did do was increase the help to those already receiving benefits. However, that £20-a-month extra is nowhere near enough and, more importantly, the targeted approach does not work, as there are many people who are not already receiving government benefits who are struggling with these price rises and need help,’ he added, referencing a scheme by Social Security Minister Judy Martin whereby a direct monthly payment of £20 was being made to every adult or child in a household claiming income support – and every pensioner claiming a means-tested benefit – from April to December 2022.
Mr Walker added: ‘The biggest issue at the moment is the cost of fuel. This has a far wider impact than the government – who replied to our calls for a reduction in duty levels with some advice to consumers to shop around for their fuel – seems to think. The price at the pump impacts everything we buy, particularly food prices and other services which rely on items being imported into Jersey and then delivered around the Island.
‘The more prices rise, the more the government brings in through GST, so there must be some options open to them to give some of that back.’
ATF Fuels director Jonathan Best said he had ‘never seen road fuels at this price’ – and pointed to a range of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ such as the war in Ukraine and an ‘unfavourable’ exchange rate against the pound as some of the factors driving the jump.
‘From the start of the year there has been a circa 40% rise in petrol [costs], 50% in diesel and 100% in heating oil,’ he said.
‘You never know what is going to happen – if the war in Ukraine eases, then prices could improve but as we head into winter there will be greater demand, so there is potential for things to get worse before they get better.’
Last month ministers said they were ‘not convinced’ proposed fuel-duty cuts would help alleviate the rising cost of living. Their comments came in response to a petition by Mr Best which called for an ‘immediate’ fuel-duty cut of 2.5 pence per litre and received more than 2,000 signatures.
‘We believe it should have been addressed while they [the government] had the opportunity – that was the entire point of the petition,’ he said.
