The real lives behind the ‘heat or eat’ headlines
Citizens Advice Gateshead, independent charity and longstanding member of the national Citizens Advice network, has provided first line support to hundreds of families who are already living the reality of the cost-of-living crisis. Chief Executive Alison Dunn is determined to raise awareness amongst policy makers and support services of the real truths behind the ‘heat or eat’ headlines which she sees as a gross oversimplification of a grave situation that’s becoming more serious by the day.
“Using the term ‘heat OR eat’ gives the impression that people have a choice. That would indeed be a terrible plight on families across the North, but in our recent experience the reality is far worse. Many people simply can’t afford to do either, with demand for food banks rocketing and literally hundreds of people ‘self-disconnecting’ from smart meter utility services every week since the price cap increased.”
Alison says the charity’s front-line advisers have never seen anything like the range of people who are now facing serious financial difficulties, and the statistics present a bleak picture:
- Advice enquiries have almost doubled since the same time last year, and worryingly an increasing proportion of people in employment are looking for support. As a charity this is a real challenge as our resources haven’t increased in line with demand.
- In Gateshead alone we’re dealing with energy enquiries now in the thousands, with an enormous 186% growth over the past 2 years, and the number of people needing support from food banks for the first quarter this year has doubled year on year.
- In the last month alone our advisers have supported 3 times as many people to access charitable grants compared to the same time last year, and a high proportion of the grants are buying bedding, carpets and curtains as people build their warmth reserves for later in the year.
But what of the story behind the scenes – what’s the day-to-day reality behind the ‘heat of eat’ headline?
Fuel poverty is destroying people’s basic standard of living. Watching the smart meter in a tail spin when they boil the kettle, cook a meal, turn on a light, have a shower, watch TV or charge the mobile phone has led to genuine anxiety, and is impacting on everyday life. One adviser reported “I’ve had clients in appointments ask me if they smell bad because they’ve not had hot water to wash so are concerned it’s affecting their hygiene, they are really concerned and anxious about this and it affects their ability to leave the house which is a barrier to them getting help.”
People facing illness and disability are disproportionately affected by low temperatures and lack of food. One adviser described the experience of a client who is diabetic. “They need to keep their electricity on else their insulin won’t be kept refrigerated making it unsafe to use which is potentially life threatening, but they also need to have food because if they have a hypo this too is life threatening. They need to heat and eat to protect their physical wellbeing”.
Travel costs are no longer viable leading to the need to choose between home or work. Described by one adviser in stark terms: “I’ve had a couple of clients in the difficult situation of not being able to afford the combination of utilities, food, and travel, but if they sacrifice travel they lose their work income – or sacrifice travel to the job centre with risk of sanctions, either of which spirals their situation further, but also don’t want to be unable to wash due to lack of hot water or to go hungry at work/home. I’ve had a client describe to me walking 6+ miles round trip to work daily, waking up at 4am every day to do so, doing a manual job on an empty stomach, then walking home.” Even being able to afford transport home from the foodbank is a prevalent issue people are facing, leading to them going without food albeit a food voucher has been received.
And all this when the weather is mild …
Ian Young who is a Consumer Energy Team Leader at the charity believes that as well as needing more capacity in social welfare services such as Citizens Advice Gateshead people need to be helped with energy advice.
“People are checking smart meters in the morning and find their credit has dropped by £2 even though they aren’t using electricity, so we tell them that charging a phone overnight, or leaving a TV on standby, need unfortunately to be habits of the past, as every unit of energy now costs so much more than it ever has before”. Ian believes that landlords could play a role in helping with the role out of practical ‘not so obvious’ energy advice to tenants, as in this current situation every little helps.
But even adopting good consumer habits will only scratch the surface of the problem that’s building at an exponential rate. Arianne Graven, Legal Advice Services Manager at Citizens Advice Gateshead believes that choices are far more fundamental than heat or eat. Her team has seen a significant increase in the level of rent and mortgage arrears people are presenting, as rent payments are being missed to cover the cost of other household bills.
“The cost-of-living crisis is causing people’s financial situations to spiral out of control very quickly. We used to be concerned about the people who were ‘just coping’ as they were living on a knife edge a lot of the time. Now, not being able to keep a roof over their heads at all is becoming a real worry for families. Even people who were fairly comfortable are having to make such difficult choices to be able to afford their essential costs and utilities.”
The cost-of-living crisis is presenting far deeper issues for people than whether to heat or eat. Energy prices are having an almost bewildering impact on people’s basic standard of living, and Alison Dunn is concerned that the real implications of the onset of colder weather in the Autumn aren’t properly understood.
“The thermos flask has now become a staple for families, to avoid boiling the kettle more than necessary. Our advisers are now facing the unenviable task of recommending hot water bottles, layered clothing and wearing hats indoors to prepare people for the very real prospect of no longer being able to heat their homes, instead having to focus on heating themselves. This has really serious implications for people’s wellbeing and everyday family life, and is also likely to result in irreversible consequences for housing that’s susceptible to deterioration through a lack of heat. The whole support system needs to mobilise to get a grip on this crisis immediately.”
The NHC in partnership with Citizens Advice Gateshead, Money & Pensions Service and Society Matters will be discussing these issues and showcasing approached adopted in mitigating the impact of the cost of living on families, communities and employees, for further information click here for Session 1 and here for Session 2.
Jayne Graham MBE FIEP
Commercial Director, Citizens Advice Gateshead
