Reading areas most hit by energy, tax and food hikes

Areas of Southcote, Norcot and Whitley are most at risk of struggling with hikes in energy bills, food prices and national insurance tax, according to Office for National Statistics figures (ONS).

Whitely councillor Micky Leng said he’d already seen an influx of people who were ‘just about managing’ seeking support.

“Everybody is struggling now. I’m getting casework from places where I wouldn’t normally,” he said.

Source: Office for National Statistics

He continued: “Since the start of Covid we’ve been flat out with people contacting us to be put onto welfare and stuff like that”

Regulator Ofgem is set to review the cap on energy bills, currently set at £1,277 for an average household, on February 7, and analysts have predicted it could jump to nearly £2,000.

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The Consumer Prices Index (CPI), which measures the cost of every day products, already put inflation at a near 30-year high of 5.4 per cent in December and energy price rises are expected to push it beyond 6 per cent in Spring.

At the same time, the Government is set to impose a 1.25 per cent hike in national insurance tax in April.

Meanwhile, the end of the Universal Credit Uplift in October last year saw £20 cut from recipients weekly payments.

“People have always struggled and they’ll start to notice they’re struggling more when inflation hits, but they’ve always struggled,” said Cllr Leng.

“It’s the punitive side that really hurts people. When the benefit system is unfair and it attacks them and takes their money away.”

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One of the most income-deprived areas in Reading is in Southcote, in the area circled by Bath Road, Southcote Lane and Circuit Laine, according to the ONS.

Southcote councillor and leader of Reading Borough Councill Jason Brock said household budgets in Reading were facing a ‘catastrophe’.

“Myself and all my Labour colleagues on the council are very concerned about the increase in costs of living, particularly in terms of energy prices which has a knock-on effect on everything else including food prices.”

He continued: “We could quite quickly get into a situation where these prices are really hurting families, not just in Southcote but across the town.”

The councillor said: “There are plenty of people concerned that their energy bills have gone up and particularly concerned about what might happen in February when the energy price cap is reviewed and the potential for that to have a really catastrophic impact on household budgets.”

He called on the Government to review the forthcoming rise in national insurance and review the support they offer people around energy bills.

Boris Johnson, speaking to broadcasters in Essex, said his administration understands the “pressures that the cost-of-living crunch is putting on people”, particularly when it came to energy concerns.

“So, we’re going to be bringing forward … I know the Chancellor is looking at a package of things to abate energy costs,” he said.

Increasing the “national living wage” and cutting the taper rate on Universal Credit, along with a £12 billion support package, would help people through the current fiscal demands, he argued.

The Prime Minister added: “But you’ll be hearing more from the Chancellor in due course.”