Hundreds of South Kesteven council homes to be upgraded
A council has agreed to spend almost £8m on energy efficiency improvements to its housing stock.South Kesteven District Council's cabinet formally approved a contract to upgrade an estimated 273 council-owned properties at a meeting on Tuesday.Measures include fitting solar panels and low-carbon heating measures.Work is expected to start in June.
Virginia Moran, cabinet member for housing, said: "This is an extension of considerable work that we have already done on a number of properties."Council leader Ashley Baxter described the project as a "triple whammy", by "improving our council stock, reducing bills for our residents and improving the environment."It comes after the authority submitted a bid to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which awarded a grant of about £4m, which will be match-funded by the council.The contract, with Equans Building Ltd, is valued at about £7.8m over a three-year period, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
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The Independent
11 minutes ago
- The Independent
Winter fuel payments: Am I eligible and how much can I get?
In the latest U-turn after months of backlash, the government has announced a massive expansion of who will receive winter fuel payments. After weeks of speculation over what the changes would look like, it has now been confirmed that 9 million pensions will be eligible for the payment - a huge uplift from the 1.5 million pensioners who received the payment in winter 2024-25. Here, The Independent looks at how the new system will work and who will be affected by the uplift. How many people did the winter fuel payment cut affect? The winter fuel payment is a state benefit previously given to all pensioners to help with energy costs during the coldest months of the year. The decision to means-test the previously universal payment was one of the first announcements by Rachel Reeves when she became chancellor after Labour's landslide election victory last year, and it has been widely blamed for the party's collapse in support. The government has insisted the policy was necessary to help stabilise the public finances, and meant that the payment would only go to those on low incomes who received specified benefits such as pension credit. This meant the number of pensioners receiving the payment was reduced from 11.4 million to 1.5 million. Several charities, MPs and unions criticised the decision, with some blaming it for the party's disappointing local election results. In November, it was revealed that the government's own figures indicated it would force 100,000 pensioners into poverty in 2026. How was the payment linked to pension credit? Only those who claim pension credit were able to receive the winter fuel payment in winter 2024. Those who are above state pension age and have an income of less than £218.15 a week, or less than £332.95 as a joint weekly income with your partner, are eligible for pension credit. However, despite the government's campaigns and an increase in claims after the July 2024 announcement, it is estimated that half a million eligible people fail to claim the benefit. How will the new system work? The government has increased the threshold at which people over the state pension age become eligible for the payment, meaning that anyone with an income of or below £35,000 will receive it this winter. The government estimates that the new threshold will ensure that more than three quarters of pensioners in England and Wales - around 9m people - will receive the benefit. It is estimated that around 2 million pensioners in England and Wales have taxable incomes above £35,000 and will therefore be exempt. The payment of £200 per household, or £300 per household where there is someone over 80, will be made automatically this winter, meaning no pensioner will need to take any action in order to receive the payment. Those with incomes above the threshold will see the payment automatically recovered via HMRC, or they have the option to opt out. However, details of how this will work are yet to be confirmed. Ministers estimate the change will cost the taxpayer £1.25bn in England and Wales, saving around £450m compared to when the winter fuel payment was universally available. The Treasury has not yet set out how it will pay for the uplift, but has insisted the costs will be accounted for at the autumn budget and incorporated into the next OBR forecast. They have also promised it will not lead to permanent additional borrowing.
Daily Mail
15 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Labour splashes the cash… but who's going to pick up the bill? Brits warned of looming tax hikes as Rachel Reeves lays out 'unrealistic' spending plans TODAY
Rachel Reeves will splash the cash today as fears mount that Brits will need to pick up the bill later. The Cabinet is set to sign off the spending review before the Chancellor announces the details in the Commons at lunchtime. She will allocate huge sums to departments for the coming years, after loosening the government's borrowing rules at the last Budget. But although Ms Reeves will boast that her new approach means Labour can spend a staggering £300billion more over the next five years than the Tories planned, critics have warned she does not know where the money is coming from. The generous fiscal envelope set last Autumn has been put under massive pressure by the economy slowing down and Donald Trump 's trade war. There are demands to pump far more cash into defence, while Ms Reeves has already made an humiliating U-turn on winter fuel allowance cuts and is facing a Labour revolts on other benefits curbs. That has led analysts and political rivals to argue that more tax increases are 'inevitable' - although the funding gap will not crystalise until the next fiscal package. The tax rises in the Budget last year were the biggest on record for a single fiscal event. Public sector productivity has been making almost no progress despite investment The backdrop to the decisions has been looking increasingly grim, with Labour trailing Reform in the polls. Figures yesterday showed unemployment rising, and a survey found just 12 per cent of Brits believe Ms Reeves is doing a good job. Ministers have described the spending plans – equal to an extra £8,100 for every taxpayer in Britain – as 'the end of austerity'. In her announcement later, Ms Reeves will admit voters do not feel like they have more money in their pockets as Labour prepares to mark one year in office. But she will insisting she is 'renewing Britain'. 'This Government's task – my task – and the purpose of this spending review is to change that, to ensure that renewal is felt in people's everyday lives, their jobs, their communities,' she will say. Last week, Ms Reeves refused to rule out any further tax increases. Spending will be skewed heavily towards the NHS in an attempt to cut waiting lists further. Defence is set to be another big winner after Sir Keir Starmer committed to spending 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027. Allies of Angela Rayner were last night claiming victory in her bid to secure more cash towards meeting Labour's target of building 1.5 million new homes by the next election. The Deputy PM, who is responsible for housing policy, had a series of bust-ups with Treasury ministers and No 10 over the issue. The Treasury had proposed a modest increase in the social housing budget from £2.3 billion a year to £2.5 billion. But government sources last night said Ms Rayner had secured a £39 billion settlement over ten years. The Treasury said it was the biggest boost to social housing in a generation. But the growing cost of servicing the UK's debt mountain means other areas of spending, including the police, face a budget squeeze in future years. The Tories branded Ms Reeves the 'Spend Today, Tax Tomorrow Chancellor'. Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said: 'Labour is spending money it doesn't have, with no credible plan to pay for it. 'That means more borrowing, more debt, and, inevitably, more tax rises in the Autumn Budget. Don't be fooled. We can't afford Labour.' In recent days, the Chancellor and Prime Minister have repeatedly claimed that Labour has 'fixed the foundations' of the economy, despite rising inflation and cuts to official growth forecasts. Yesterday's stark employment figures underline the real-world impact of Labour's tax and spend approach. They revealed UK payroll numbers have shrunk by 276,000 over the past seven months. In May alone, payrolls fell by 109,000 – the worst month since the pandemic. Meanwhile the unemployment rate has climbed to 4.6 per cent, the highest in nearly four years. Experts pinned the blame on Ms Reeves's £25 billion raid on employer National Insurance, which was announced in the October Budget and took effect in April. Payroll numbers fell every month since the Budget.
The Independent
18 minutes ago
- The Independent
Why did Starmer and Reeves change tack on winter fuel payments? Every Labour U-turn explained
Sir Keir Starmer appears to be heading for a number of major U-turns amid growing concern from MPs about the direction of government and following a devastating performance at the local elections. The prime minister last month announced plans to reverse his controversial cuts to winter fuel payments, saying he wants more pensioners to be eligible for the benefit - a move that has now been confirmed. There is also a growing expectation he will lift the two-child benefit cap. While nothing has been announced yet, the prime minister is privately said to be in favour of lifting the cap – but has refused to commit to anything until the child poverty strategy is published in the autumn. Below, The Independent looks at all the times Sir Keir has U-turned on his promises or let voters down on the journey from Labour leader to prime minister. Winter fuel payments In July, the chancellor announced that pensioners not in receipt of pension credits or other means-tested benefits would no longer receive winter fuel payments - a £300 payment to help with energy costs in the colder months. After spending months ruling out a U-turn, the prime minister in May told MPs he now wants to ensure more pensioners are eligible for the payment – something he claimed has come as a result of an improving economic picture. After weeks of speculation over what the changes would look like, it has now been confirmed that 9 million pensioners will be eligible for the payment - a huge uplift from the 1.5 million pensioners who received the payment in winter 2024-25. Two-child benefit cap Promising in 2020 to create a social security system fit for the 21st century, Sir Keir said: 'We must scrap the inhuman Work Capability Assessments and private provision of disability assessments... scrap punitive sanctions, two-child limit and benefits cap.' But before the election, Sir Keir said Labour was 'not changing' the Tory policy if Labour were to win power. He has stuck to his guns, even suspending seven Labour MPs for rebelling against his King's Speech in a bid to have the policy scrapped. And now, it looks like the prime minister is gearing up to row back on the position. While nothing has been announced, the prime minister is privately said to be in favour of lifting the cap. He has refused to commit to anything until the child poverty strategy is published in the autumn but has insisted he is 'absolutely determined' to 'drive down' child poverty and has repeatedly sidestepped questions on the issue when pressed on it. Waspi women In a 2022 interview, Sir Keir said: 'All your working life you've got in mind the date on which you can retire and get your pension, and just as you get towards it, the goalposts are moved and you don't get it, and it's a real injustice. 'We need to do something about it. That wasn't the basis on which you paid in or the basis on which you were working.' But, in a familiar change of tune since becoming prime minister, Sir Keir last year sent his work and pensions secretary out to tell Women Against State Pension Inequality, Waspi women, they would not be getting any compensation. £28bn green investment pledge As shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves announced the party's plans for an extra £28bn a year in green investment at Labour's conference in September 2021. But before the election, Sir Keir ditched the £28bn a year target and said instead that he would spend a far smaller sum on Great British Energy, a national wealth fund for clean investment and pledges on energy efficiency. National insurance Labour's pre-election manifesto promised not to increase national insurance. It stated: 'Labour will not increase taxes on working people, which is why we will not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT.' But, Sir Keir and Chancellor Ms Reeves used the ambiguity around whether they meant employer or employee national insurance contributions to steamroll the pledge at Labour's first Budget in power. The pair argue that they only promised to keep employee contributions frozen and instead landed firms with a 2 per cent increase to employer national insurance contributions. Tractor tax Farmers have also said they feel betrayed by the PM, after a 2023 National Farmers Union (NFU) speech in which he promised to have 'a new relationship with the countryside and farmers'. Sir Keir claimed to be concerned that 'each day brings a new existential risk to British farming. He added: 'Losing a farm is not like losing any other business, it can't come back.' Going even further, then shadow environment secretary Steve Reed said it was 'desperate nonsense' to suggest he would scrap tax breaks for farmers, just weeks before the July 4 poll. But, in another hugely unpopular Budget bombshell, Sir Keir slashed agricultural property relief, meaning previously exempt farms will be his with a 20 per cent levy on farming assets worth more than £1m. Critics have said it will see family farmers forced to sell up, ripping the heart out of countryside communities. Bankers' bonuses Strict regulations on bonuses, which limit annual payouts to twice a banker's salary, were introduced by the EU in 2014 in a bid to avoid excessive risk-taking after the 2008 financial crisis. Former prime minister Liz Truss and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng scrapped the cap in 2022, in a bid to encourage more investment in the UK. Sir Keir had previously vowed to reinstate the cap, saying in 2022 that lifting it 'shows the Tories are absolutely tone deaf to what so many people are going through'. But in another major U-turn, Ms Reeves announced before the election that the party 'does not have any intention of bringing that back'. 10 pledges Sir Keir's bid to become leader of the Labour Party was based on 10 pledges, now infamous for having almost all been summarily dumped since. They included promises to increase income tax for top earners, abolish tuition fees, support public ownership of energy and water firms, give voting rights to EU nationals and defend freedom of movement. He has said a tougher economic backdrop means the promises are now no longer deliverable. But many Labour members who backed Sir Keir's leadership bid feel betrayed, arguing that he posed as a left-winger to win over Corbynistas before pivoting sharply to the right. After figures showed an exodus of millionaires from the UK had accelerated since Labour took office, chancellor Ms Reeves offered a concession to the super-rich and hinted Labour would row back on its non-dom tax raid. The planned changes will see Labour expand the temporary repatriation facility, which lets non-doms bring income and capital gains into the UK with a minimal tax bill.
