Support students with energy bills
Alexander submitted on
Friday 4th February 2022
Complete
Students are exempt from council tax (and some large house shares are above band D!) so the support mechanism announced today by the government will not apply to us. An additional discretonary fund is being made available, so SUSU should work with the university to enable students to make use of it. Ideally, this would be integrated with existing financial support systems.
SUSU should also consider its lobbying objectives with regard to the broader cost of living crisis. Student finance and student housing prices and energy efficienct would also merit attention.
From gov.uk:
"Households in England, which are in council tax bands A-D, will also receive a £150 rebate. The rebate to bills will be made directly by local authorities from April. This will not need to be repaid. This one-off payment will benefit around 80 per cent of all homes in England and is £1 billion more generous and more targeted towards lower-income families than a VAT cut on energy bills.
On top of this discount, discretionary funding of £144 million will also be provided to support vulnerable people and individuals on low incomes that do not pay Council Tax, or that pay Council Tax for properties in Bands E-H."
Responses
Here, you can view the complete set of official responses from the sabbatical officers regarding this submission.
Students' Union replied on
Tuesday 15th Mar 2022 9:49am
Hi Alexander,
I spoke with the Student Inclusion team about the discretionary fund and unfortunately it is not available for Universities to distribute.
The Head of Student Success at the University has provided a statement regarding this:
In recognition that the removal of the energy cap and the rising prices as of the 1st of April 2022 the amount allocated in the Student Support Fund for energy costs will be increased by 50% resulting in increased awards for those eligible for funding. We would encourage any students who fund them selves in financial difficulty for this or any other reason to contact the university’s Financial Support Team either through the Student Hub or through our website.
The discretionary fund to support those who do not pay council tax is being allocated to local authorities who will be making decisions on how to allocate this funding. You can find out more about this fund by going to https://www.southampton.ac.uk/studentservices/money-matters/student-support-fund/index.page.
There is a lot of existing support available that you or other students can access, such as the Student Support Fund detailed above and SUSU's Advice Centre- providing free practical support on matters such as finances. The Advice Centre can be contacted at advice@susu.org and more information can be found here: https://www.susu.org/support/advice-centre.html.
I will also look into broader lobbying around the cost of living. I hope this all resolves your query and if you have any further questions or suggestions then please email me at- welfare@soton.ac.uk.
Kind regards,
Savanna- VP Welfare and Community
Students' Union replied on
Monday 14th Feb 2022 5:10pm
Hi,
Thank you for your submission.
I have recently liaised with the University on the increase in energy bills costs and due to this they have committed to increasing the amount given to students as Estimated Living Costs through the existing Student Support Fund - which any student struggling can apply for, regardless of parental/ other guardian income.
In terms of the discretionary fund, I will to the University Student Inclusion team to find out how this is being put to use. I will update you once I have an answer in regard to this.
In the meantime, if you have any further questions or concerns then please email me at: welfare@soton.ac.uk
Kind regards,
Savanna- VP Welfare and Community
Actions
Forwarded to Vice President Welfare and Community
Friday 11th Feb 2022 9:02am
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