Labour Council taxing poorest via the back door with huge heating charge hike

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 6th Feb 2006

The District Heating system serves many council-owned homes

Many of Sheffield's poorest households are set to suffer after the Councils Labour Cabinet approved an unprecedented hike in the District Heating charge. The hundreds of Council homes served by the District Heating system will see annual heating bills increase by 30% each year for two years.

The increase will see the annual charge for an average two bedroom house with heating and hot water go from £580.84 in 2005/06 to £755.04 in 2006/07 and then £981.55 in 2007/08. Similar huge increases have been approved for all other types of housing served by the District Heating system.

Liberal Democrats on the Council have condemned the decision by the Labour run Council as 'a disgraceful tax on some of the poorest in our city'. Lib Dems believe that the price hikes will see many households struggling to make ends meet, they also believe that vulnerable groups such as the elderly will be hardest hit.

Liberal Democrats are furious that the Labour Council have approved the charges without revealing the true extent of the increases. The hikes were buried in an appendix of a Council report without any mention of the social problems the hikes will create. The hikes will be debated and voted on by the whole Council on Wednesday this week (1st Feb 2006).

Cllr Diane Leek, Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet member for Neighbourhoods, said: -

"This decision by the Labour Council represents a disgraceful tax on some of the poorest in our city. Households struggling to make ends meet now face heating bills increasing by hundreds of pounds, its hard to see how vulnerable groups like the elderly and single parent families will cope"

"The district heating serves some of the poorest areas in Sheffield, many families in these areas must now be wondering how on earth they are going to pay these bills. Its unreasonable of the Council to expect, for example, an elderly person on a state pension living in a Council Bedsit to find an extra £300 a year"

"I am shocked and angered by the way in which the Labour group on the Council are pushing through these hikes via the back door. This cowardly way of acting does a disservice to the people of Sheffield who expect their civic leaders to be honest and upfront with difficult issues"

"There is no assessment of the social impacts these hikes will bring. No mention of how the Council will provide help people affected pay for these bills. The Labour leaders have done nothing to ease the blow of these unprecedented price hikes. Labour now have some serious questions they need to answer on the price hikes itself, and on the way in which they have handled the issue"