Nearly 144,000 households across Nottinghamshire are in line to receive the government’s one-off £650 cost of living payment. The money is intended to help hard-up households cope with rising energy bills and prices this winter.
Nationwide, more than eight million households are expected to get the money. More than 7.2 million received the first instalment of £326 in July, with the second payment of £324 to follow by the end of October.
The payment comes as the worsening cost of living crisis puts millions of households under severe financial strain. There are increasingly dire warnings about the hardships coming over the next few months, amid calls for tougher government action.
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In Nottinghamshire, a total of 143,700 households are eligible for the cost of living payment. Here’s how many households will be getting the money in each Nottinghamshire parliamentary constituency:
Ashfield - 14,300
Bassetlaw - 12,800
Broxtowe - 8,500
Gedling - 10,400
Mansfield - 15,300
Newark - 9,500
Nottingham East - 19,600
Nottingham North - 21,900
Nottingham South - 13,900
Rushcliffe - 6,300
Sherwood - 11,200
Only people in receipt of some means-tested state benefits are eligible for the £650 cost of living payment. These are Universal Credit, Income Support, Pension Credit, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit.
Those eligible for the money solely through claiming tax credits have had to wait longer than other claimants. The first payment of £326 should reach these recipients in September, with the second to follow in the winter.
The government has valued its package of cost of living support at a total of £15 billion. It also includes a £150 payment for people on certain disability benefits and a £300 payment to pensioners in receipt of the annual winter fuel allowance.
Every household in Great Britain will receive a £400 energy rebate, issued in six monthly instalments over the autumn and winter. The first instalment of £66 will be deducted from energy bills in October.
However, the government has come under increasing pressure to do more to shield consumers from rocketing energy bills. There are growing concerns about the social and economic implications of the coming energy bill hike.
Ofgem is expected to announce its energy price cap increase next Friday (August 26). Market analyst Cornwall Insight expects the cap to rise to £3,582 a year from October, before hitting £4,266 from January.
Citizens Advice has said that 13 million people are likely to be unable to pay their energy bills when they go up from this October. A University of York study, meanwhile, forecast that 45 million people in the UK would be in fuel poverty by January.
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