Headteacher tells LBC of more than £67,000 increase in her school's energy bills
21 January 2022, 15:15
This is the moment a headteacher told LBC that her school's energy bills have risen by more than £67,000.
Sharan Matharu, who is the headteacher at Elizabeth Woodville School in Northampton, brought up the figure while speaking to LBC's Shelagh Fogarty.
The exchange between the LBC presenter and the headteacher comes as the cost of living crisis grips families across the UK.
Shelagh asked the headteacher: "So, what's been the hefty bills that you've been facing in school?"
The headteacher responded: "Our energy bills have gone up to over £205,000-a-year. So that's an increase of just over £67,000.
"And that's the contract we signed based on usage previously.
"I'm a little bit worried it might slightly higher because the usage is up due to all the windows and doors being open all the time.
"We're sort of keeping the heating on for longer, I'm thinking."
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng spoke to LBC this morning and did not rule out plans for a one-off payment of up to £500 to help struggling families through the cost of living crisis.
Mr Kwarteng said this morning: “We are always looking at ways in which we can try and soften price rises, undue hikes in bills.“I’m sure there will be more information about that in the next few weeks.
“There are lots of measures that have been talked about and ultimately it’s a matter for Rishi Sunak and his team at the Treasury. “We are trying to get to some common solution.
“We’ve got the warm home discount, which gives very vulnerable people, people on low incomes, support for bills. There’s also winter fuel payment as well.“We are having conversations across government to see what more can be done.”
The Treasury is now said to be investigating whether a one-off payment to the poorest households may be a better solution than slashing VAT on energy bills, which the Chancellor is reportedly concerned would give financial aid to richer households who do not need it.
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