THE cost of living crisis is now beginning to affect us all, especially the poorest and most vulnerable in our communities.

The council has been preparing for this for some time and we held a workshop with partners from across the borough in July. Building community resilience and boosting access to support for residents and businesses was top of the agenda.

As our fantastic community response to the pandemic proved, Kingston is stronger when working together. That was why it was so important that this workshop saw more than 60 people from a wide range of organisations join councillors and council officers to discuss how best to support communities through this crisis.

We have already taken action. This has included distributing more than £800,000 to financially vulnerable households through our housing support fund and our Financial Inclusion Team providing advice and support to council tenants around the rising cost of living. There is a lot more support in place, so please visit our website at www.kingston.gov.uk/costoflivingsupport if you or someone you know is struggling. We plan to increase this support as the months go on and a partnership working group has been set up to ensure there remains a cross-borough focus on this critical issue.

Energy bills are a huge concern for many residents and local businesses as the weather starts to turn colder, so it is frustrating that the UK seems to be in such a weak position. Successive governments have failed to develop effective energy strategies and invest sufficiently in renewable technology.

This is disappointing when Kingston is working hard at a local level to build a greener, more sustainable and energy efficient future for the borough. For example, our sustainable transport plans are making it easier and more convenient for people to get around in environmentally friendly ways. In addition, as the council works towards becoming carbon neutral by 2030, we are building new affordable homes that are far more sustainable.

The national effort needs to match this local commitment. New analysis by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has found that the energy crisis is hitting UK household budgets harder than other countries in western Europe. This is because of the UK’s heavy reliance on gas to heat homes and produce electricity when the war in Ukraine has led to soaring gas prices. Around 85 per cent of UK homes reportedly use gas to provide heat while the figure is less than 50 per cent in France and Germany.

The IMF has also said that the impact on rich and poor households is more stark in the UK than in other European countries. It claims the poorest ten per cent of UK households are expected to spend 17.8 per cent of their budget on energy this year while the richest ten per cent will spend 6.1 per cent.

Furthermore, the UK also has some of the least energy efficient homes in western Europe. Research has found that UK homes lose three degrees in temperature over the same time that German homes lose just one degree.

This is worsening the problems that councils across the country are facing. The poorest and most vulnerable in our communities will suffer most until there is a rapid nationwide home insulation programme and an effective strategy to transition the UK to green energy.

As we proved during the pandemic and are showing again now, working together we can achieve much more. It is vital the new Government acts quickly to pull together the national effort on the cost of living and energy policy so our achievements at a local level are not in vain.