Liberal Democrats fear the north will need soup kitchens as the Highland Council group tables urgent measures to help tackle the cost of living crisis as they slam government inaction
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Liberal Democrats in Highland Council fear the cost of living crisis could get so bad that they are calling for the local authority to offer facilities to provide the north with soup kitchens.
Councillor David Gregg will table his motion detailing measures to help locals at a full meeting of the full council it will be debated by members and either agreed or rejected.
He said he is open to considering proposals from other groups but it is understood that an urgent paper will also be brought to the meeting by the administration.
The move is prompted by both the severity and depth of the crisis and by what is seen as the lack of action by both the Scottish and UK governments despite recently announced measures.
Cllr Gregg, a doctor who is part of the May intake of new members, wants the body to recognise that: “We are in the middle of the worst cost of living crisis for 50 years. Inflation is forecast to hit 18 per cent next year.”
He added: “The Highlands is already one of the worst areas in the country for fuel poverty with one in three of our households already in it, double the national average.
“Many households are already at the brink and will struggle to pay their heating bills with prices as they are, even if the October price increase is frozen.”
What action are the Highland LibDems calling for?
The measures for local action range from urging Westminster and Holyrood to tackle some of the root causes of skyrocketing energy bills while increasing access to benefits and cutting VAT.
Local Initiatives:
- set-up “heat hubs” in council-owned buildings to provide warm spaces for those unable to heat their homes in the winter months
- a local emergency cost of living summit involving Citizens Advice, food banks, local trade unions, public transport operators, NHS Highland, and MP/MSPs to “explore local solutions” to the crisis
- a review of all council owned housing should be conducted with a view to retrofit energy saving measures such as insulation
- review eligibility criteria for all council administered benefits to ensure these criteria still include all those who need support
- review the council’s food waste strategy to ensure no unused or expiring food from council premises, including schools, ends up in landfill
- reviving community resilience structures which helped many communities through Covid including offering council-owned kitchens such as school/community centres for the provision of hot meals
Write to the UK Government with the following asks:
- develop a support scheme for households reliant on heating oil and other domestic fuels currently excluded from all proposed plans
- extend the Rural Fuel Duty Relief Scheme to 10p a litre, and expand the scheme to cover all postcodes in the Highland area
- reduce the standard rate of VAT to 17.5%, saving the average Highland household £600 a year
- re-introduce the pensions triple lock to support the Highland’s pensioners, saving elderly residents an additional £300
- restore the Universal Credit supplement of £20, which was cancelled by the UK Government in September 2021, and double to £40/week
Write to the Scottish Government with the following asks:
- expand coverage of the Highland Railcard Scheme to all Highland postcodes and all Highland rail services
- increase disability benefits to the maximal allowable amount as opposed to the current plan to copy the UK Government which will leave benefits lagging up to four per cent behind inflation
- fund urgent insulation schemes to help keep people warm this winter, and protect them from massive price rises, noting even the pre-pandemic rate of insulation in Scotland would take 164 years to insulate every vulnerable household
Cllr David Gregg: measures 'should have been announced weeks ago'
He said: “Every Highland Lib Dem councillor is hearing every day from people concerned about the cost of living. Prices have been rising for months, many are at the brink, and we wanted to make sure we used the first opportunity we had to act on it. The longer we delay, the more families exhaust their savings, the more businesses go to the wall, and the more our residents suffer’
"Ed Davey was the first UK party leader to propose freezing energy prices. We’re quite pleased to see both Keir Starmer and Liz Truss decide it was an idea worth nicking. It’ll make a real difference to people’s lives, and should have been announced weeks ago when Boris Johnson was still PM. Leaving the responsibility for dealing with an active crisis to his successor was shameful, and thankfully the last act of a thoroughly inadequate politician. The Tories decided to prioritise internal squabbles instead of dealing with what actually mattered to people, and their delays have done massive harm to people all across the Highlands.
"Nicola Sturgeon hasn’t been much better. Instead of pushing for another referendum all summer, her SNP-Green government should have been using the powers it already has to make people’s day to day lives easier. She could have massively increased resources for insulation to reduce energy bills – not done. She could have raised disability benefit to keep better pace with inflation – not done. She could have scrapped the rail fare rise completely rather than just delay it – not done. You can’t heat your house or pay your electricity bill with promises of independence. We needed quick and decisive actions, and Nicola Sturgeon waited just as long to announce her big cost of living plan as the Tories did."
