The government’s new Bill of Rights, or the Rights Removal Bill as some are calling it, will weaken the ability of us all to stand up for the rights of children and their families. This blog describes how two families had their applications for bereavement benefits denied, and how they used the Human Rights Act to challenge this in court with support from CPAG’s legal team.
Forecasters have increased their estimate for the January 2023 energy price cap to £5,386 for the typical bill. If as expected, this estimate is accurate, families are now facing a gaping £1,200 shortfall for energy costs alone in the months up to April 2023.
At the British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR), our mission is to create social justice through human rights approaches and advocacy. Our aim is shared with the aim of our Human Rights Act: to create a culture of respect for human rights across the UK.
Low-income families will have an estimated £1,000 shortfall for energy costs alone in the year to April 2023, if as expected Ofgem’s price cap rises to £3,554 in October, new analysis from Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) shows. An announcement on the new cap is due tomorrow.
This paper is a revision of the analysis which was published by Child Poverty Action Group on 1 August. On 2 August new gas and electricity price cap estimates were published for October 2022 and January 2023 which slightly lowered the estimates for October and slightly increased them for January.
By January 2023 over half of households in the UK (15 million) will be in fuel poverty – spending over 10 per cent of net income on fuel. They will on average be spending £38.25 above the 10 per cent threshold. There are big regional variations in fuel poverty ranging from 47.5 per cent in London to 71.7 per cent in Northern Ireland.
New statistics released today show that 120,000 households were subject to the benefit cap in February 2022. The benefit cap limits the amount of social security some households receive, with families losing £236 a month, on average.
I have found this whole cost of living subject a difficult one for us in particular. It is topical at the moment and is a constant weight on my mind. There's no escape, everywhere I turn, it’s all around me. The TV, the news and social media. I’m tired of it and the continuous daily struggle. I feel we’ve been experiencing and have been living this for some time.
My name is Brian, I am a single parent to one daughter, we live in the south of England and I claim disability benefits. The impact on children due to the rising cost of living is heartbreaking and will have a long term impact on them. Being a single parent with a teenage daughter is tough enough but now we are having to make cutbacks to the bare minimum. My daughter now has to live in a cold, dark home as I am unable to afford the rising cost of gas and electricity, which is having a real impact on her studies during exam times. My daughter is 16 years old and currently studying hard for her GCSEs and looking forward to continuing studies for her A levels after the summer.
At the start of the pandemic, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) relaxed some evidence checks for people making a universal credit (UC) claim to provide quicker access to benefits. In January 2021, the DWP began reverifying the details of claims made while evidence checks were eased. This has resulted in some claimants being asked to pay back the entirety of their UC award. More than a year after the exercise started, we continue to hear from people who have had their UC payments stopped, who have received demands to repay all the UC they received, and who are unable to understand or challenge the DWPs decision.