Agenda item

It was moved by Councillor Hulme,

Seconded by Councillor Swindlehurst,

“This Council notes that cost of living increases are becoming a crisis for families across the country. With households in Slough paying an extra £36.9m from this month following the raising of the energy price cap; while food prices have risen by 27% and childcare costs by 50% since 2010.

The Council resolves to write to the government to press for further help for residents, including:

·  Expanding and increasing cold weather payments in time for the coming winter and extending the eligibility for winter fuel payments, to cover lower income working aged households;

·  Restoring the £20 uplift to Universal Credit, introduced temporarily to help UC recipients  during the covid pandemic but then subsequently removed;

·  Revising the usual annual uplift to other benefit payments and the state pension to reflect current rates of inflation, given the steep rise in inflation over recent months and the continued predictions of its elevated trajectory;

with the above measures to be funded by a windfall tax on the recent bumper profits of companies in the oil and gas production and distribution chain.”

A prior request having been made for the record of the voting -

There voted for the motion:

Councillors Ajaib, Akram, Ali, Anderson, Bains, Bal, Basra, Begum, Brooker, Carter, A.Cheema, H.Cheema, Dhaliwal, Gahir, Gill, Grewal, Hulme, Kaur, Malik, Mann, Matloob, Minhas, Mohammad, Pantelic, D.Parmar, S.Parmar, Qaseem, Sabah, Sandhu, Sharif, Swindlehurst and The Worshipful the Mayor, Councillor Nazir …………………………….…………………………. 32

There abstained from voting on the motion:

Councillors Bedi, Kelly, Muvvala, Smith, Strutton and Wright ……………… 6

Resolved –

This Council notes that cost of living increases are becoming a crisis for families across the country. With households in Slough paying an extra £36.9m from this month following the raising of the energy price cap; while food prices have risen by 27% and childcare costs by 50% since 2010.

The Council resolves to write to the government to press for further help for residents, including:

·  Expanding and increasing cold weather payments in time for the coming winter and extending the eligibility for winter fuel payments, to cover lower income working aged households;

·  Restoring the £20 uplift to Universal Credit, introduced temporarily to help UC recipients  during the covid pandemic but then subsequently removed;

·  Revising the usual annual uplift to other benefit payments and the state pension to reflect current rates of inflation, given the steep rise in inflation over recent months and the continued predictions of its elevated trajectory;

with the above measures to be funded by a windfall tax on the recent bumper profits of companies in the oil and gas production and distribution chain.