We are seeing it. we publish every month our cost of living dashboard, we can see what s happening. and we are telling people and seeking to get the focus on that. but there s a bigger picture here as well, because even come april, you know, benefits will go up, there will be further support. the chancellor s autumn statement announcement was the fifth announcement that we ve had on cost of living since february, and there s been since the start of the pandemic, we ve seen a series of sticking plasters applied to the benefits system. and there has to be a point when we stand back and say, actually, the support that people are getting through the welfare state is not intrinsically linked to what they need. if you go right back to beveridge, beveridge was talking about a minimum standard of living below which people should not fall. and we re not in that position when people are constantly, you know, on the edge of crisis and having to be rescued from worse situations. now, just a few we
We also deliver some services at a national scale. so we deliver the consumer service, we deliver help to claim, which is the service for people who are making an initial claim for universal credit. so it is quite a patchwork, it s difficult to sort of sum it up in a few words. and a few weeks ago, citizens advice said the red warning lights were flashing. you were putting pressure on ministers to make sure they did upgrade benefits in line with inflation, for example. have the red lights stop flashing now? have ministers listened 7 well, if you look at the autumn statement yesterday, there is much in it to welcome. so the government has announced uprating of benefits in line with inflation. that s absolutely critical. they ve announced a continuation of the energy price guarantee, albeit at a higher level, and they ve announced targeted support for people, particularly on benefits. those are all good things, but there are two big holes left by the autumn statement announcement.
Lights were flashing. you were putting pressure on ministers to make sure they did upgrade benefits in line with inflation, for example. have the red lights stop flashing now? have ministers listened 7 well, if you look at the autumn statement yesterday, there is much in it to welcome. so the government has announced uprating of benefits in line with inflation. that s absolutely critical. they ve announced a continuation of the energy price guarantee, albeit at a higher level, and they ve announced targeted support for people, particularly on benefits. those are all good things, but there are two big holes left by the autumn statement announcement. firstly is this winter we know, because we have huge numbers of people who are coming to us in crisis at the moment, that the cost of living crisis is already happening. and while the support coming in april is welcome, it s just not at all clear how people are going to get through from here until there. we re currently helping two people ev
I heard jeremy hunt on the television this morning saying we want people to be able to go out to the pub. now, here s somebody who can t even buy her son a pint on his 18th birthday. and that s the sort of situation that an awful lot of people are in. so even people on benefits who the headlines suggest are being protected from inflation are going to struggle this winter? so huge numbers of people are going to struggle this winter. people on benefits. people, you know, we re seeing a lot of working people coming to us. the crisis kind of started in april, but it was. in the run up to april, we were all saying there s going to be a big crisis when energy prices go up by 57%. we got to april and almost as soon as we got there, everybody started worrying about october. but that crisis in april happened. it s working its way through. we are seeing it. we publish every month our cost of living dashboard, we can see what s happening. and we are telling people and seeking to get the focus on
Who are making an initial claim for universal credit. so it is quite a patchwork, it s difficult to sort of sum it up in a few words. and a few weeks ago, citizens advice said the red warning lights were flashing. you were putting pressure on ministers to make sure they did upgrade benefits in line with inflation, for example. have the red lights stop flashing now? have ministers listened 7 well, if you look at the autumn statement yesterday, there is much in it to welcome. so the government has announced uprating of benefits in line with inflation. that s absolutely critical. they ve announced a continuation of the energy price guarantee, albeit at a higher level, and they ve announced targeted support for people, particularly on benefits. those are all good things, but there are two big holes left by the autumn statement announcement. firstly is this winter we know, because we have huge numbers of people who are coming to us in crisis at the moment, that the cost of living crisis is