Downing Street Says

Asked if the Government was ruling out a windfall tax, the PMS said that decisions on such things were announced in the usual way through the Pre Budget Report (PBR) or the Budget.

Asked how work was going on the economic recovery plan, the PMS said that the Government remained focused on the overall economic situation in the UK, which had been caused by the global credit crunch and the increase in quantise prices, particularly fuel. In regards to issues such as energy, the protection of those least able to heat their homes was a priority for the Government and we would continue to work with energy companies, amongst others, to make sure that we could provide help, including social tariffs, for those groups.

Asked if the Prime Minister was happy with the existing status of the winter fuel allowance, the PMS said that protecting those who were least able to afford to heat their homes was a top priority for the Government; we continued to work on measures including energy efficiency measures, to help the most vulnerable to reduce the amount of energy they use and to lower their bills.

Asked if the Prime Minister was personally involved or if the Treasury were leading on this, the PMS said that the Prime Minister took a strong interest in areas of critical importance to the British people.

Asked if the Government recognised the figure in the Financial Times of £2.75 billion in 3 years to make low income families become more energy efficient, the PMS said that that question was best directed to Defra; any specific measures would be announced in the PBR.

Asked about EU emission permits, the PMS said that this was best directed to Defra.

Asked if the Government recognised the figure in the Financial Times regarding 16-18 year old children from poor families staying in education, the PMS said it was best to check the figure with the Department.

Asked if the Government was going to bring forward an economic recovery plan in September, the PMS said that a decision of that sort would be for the Treasury to announce.

2 Comments »

With the government thinking about building nuclear power stations, or investing/partnering with others, why don’t we invest in solar panels for every home,with the quantity of homes in UK would drive the initial cost the panels down/with means testing for the private home-owners there would be no impact cost to the environment, no terrorist target, and would certainly be cheaper for the consumer, there could also be possibility of improvement grants available from the EEC(?) Excess electricity could be sold back to electricity companies making power cheaper for businesses. Elderly/lower paid people would not have to cut back in the winter months or worry about costs, and the government would be able to stop the winter payments.
Comment by Mrs Joan Wharton — 6 Aug 2008 on 9:39 am | Link
Handing vouchers over to those that need assistance to pay their fuel bills is a very short-term fix, for what is likely to be a long term problem. Surely it would be better to target this money into reducing bills through solar panels, draft-proofing, low energy bulbs and so on? Otherwise we shall simply be paying the same money out years after year. They also need to look at the carbon credit schemes that were put in place for the energy companies, who are now benefitting enormously. Don’t apply a windfall tax, just reduce or remove the carbon credits.
Comment by UK Voter — 26 Aug 2008 on 12:20 pm | Link

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» Monday, August 4, 2008

Economy

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