Councillor Ben Miskell who is helping to introduce a motion to Sheffield Council next week on the cost-of-living crisis says families are ‘feeling the crunch’ and has slammed the Prime Minister for being ‘too distracted by scandals’ to deal with a crisis he says is hitting Sheffield families.

Sheffield Councillors are set to discuss the looming cost-of-living crisis as they meet next Wednesday, with Labour councillors backing a plan by the party nationally to deal with it. Councillor Ben Miskell who is introducing the motion with Councillor Karen McGowen will use the opportunity to highlight what he says has been a decade of dither, delay and poor planning on Britain’s energy sector – as well as calling for a windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas to stop energy bills rising over the next year.

To address the immediate crisis, Councillor Ben Miskell has said Labour would bring in fully-funded measures now to reduce the expected price rise in April – saving most households in Sheffield around £200 or more.

But the party would also increase and expand the Warm Home’s Discount, targeting extra support to the squeezed middle, pensioners and the lowest earners, saving over 80,000 households in Sheffield up to £600 off bills in total, and preventing all of the increase in energy bills currently expected.

Labour would pay for this plan with a one-off windfall tax on North Sea Oil and Gas producers who have profited from price rises.

Councillor Ben Miskell said:

“Families and businesses in Sheffield are facing an energy price crisis because a decade of failed Conservative energy policy has left us deeply vulnerable as a country and is starting to hurt families in Sheffield.

“Labour wants to stop bills going up.

“That’s why Labour would give families security by taking fully-funded measures to save most households around £200 or more.

“We’d also target extra support on top of that for the squeezed middle, pensioners and lowest earners – saving over 80,000 households in Sheffield up to £600 off their bills in total.

“But we need more than short-term relief. 

“Labour’s plan to keep energy bills lower in future would see us accelerate home-grown renewables and new nuclear, retrofit 19 million homes to save households an average of £400 a year on their bills, and reform our broken energy system.”