Families in Sheffield are facing the biggest fall in living standards since records began – as council tax, energy prices, broadband, phone and water bills are all set to rise this month.

The average family will see a £1,840 fall in disposable income over the next two years – sucking £452 million from the local economy.

Labour Leader Keir Starmer has announced that a Labour Government would be freezing council tax for every household in Britain, fully funded through a proper windfall tax on oil and gas companies. Labour would also provide a proper funding settlement for councils, in contrast to the current position which has seen council budgets slashed since 2010.

Commenting on the newly published figures, Councillor Julie Grocutt (Councillor for Stocksbridge and Upper Don) said:

“The cost-of-living crisis is far from over – yet this government seems to have given up. New analysis has revealed the devastating toll rising taxes and higher bills are having on families and the local economy in Sheffield. In contrast, Labour has a plan to provide the support people need.

“Instead of rising taxes, a Labour Government would be freezing council tax – fully funded by a fair windfall tax on the bumper profits of the oil and gas giants.

“What’s more we would close the non-dom tax loophole, reverse the Tory £1 billion hand out to the richest people in the country, and use that money to fund one of the biggest expansions of the NHS workforce in history, and we’d keep energy bills low for good by insulating 19 million homes and sprinting towards 100% Clean Power. I know that these changes would make a huge difference to the entire city, including in the Stocksbridge area.

“Labour councillors are committed to providing more support for local families. We will provide extra support to those in greatest hardship and we will deliver greater investment to Local Area Committees, working closely with residents to tackle the issues that matter most in our neighbourhoods.

“And we will continue working closely with the network of 171 ‘welcoming places’ where people can get advice and support, come together to chat, and stay warm.

“The cost-of-living crisis has been made in Downing Street due to Tory incompetence. But we’re committed to doing everything we can to weather this and support families”.

Notes and further info:

Median household disposable income in the UK was £32,300 in the financial year ending (FYE) 2022https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwealth/bulletins/householddisposableincomeandinequality/financialyearending2022

The OBR is predicting ‘Real household disposable income (RHDI) per person – a measure of real living standards – is expected to fall by a cumulative 5.7 per cent over the two financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24… the largest two-year fall since records began in 1956-57.

This means that real living standards are still 0.4 per cent lower than their pre-pandemic levels in 2027-28.’

https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/OBR-EFO-March-2023_Web_Accessible.pdf

A 5.7% reduction from £32,300, would leave a real terms cash fall of £1,841.10

There are 246,000 households in Sheffield.

Meaning a total fall of 452,886,000 locally.