Winter fuel payment

HelterSkelter1

Monica Shame the water companies didnt invest their vast profits to ensure clean rivers and beaches. And future supply of clean water

Water companies are not energy companies, I have made no comment on water companies.

I am watching the Simon Reeve series Scandinavia. I know the population of a country like Finland is small and they have natural resources, but their citizens trust their government to loo, after them. They pay high taxes but are looked after.
Here I feel I have to hold on to my savings for when I need to pay for my care in older age than now. I would rather have had to pay higher taxes and a social care tax and feel that what I have left over is mine to spend how I like as my future care woukd be guaranteed. So I would spend more of my savings and "income" and therefore raise by Vat more for the country's coffers.
I look forward to watching the rest of the series. Thry are happier than we are as a nation. The children especiallly happier and healthier.

I've missed that series, HelterSkelter1, must try to find it.

I do always think that Finland is an example of small is beautiful. Everything from the number of children in their schools, to the size of hospitals, population density are so much smaller than us. Once you increase population density, you need huge schools with thousands of pupils, have huge dense cities, with inadequate housing then problems grow twice as fast as the population.

I expect there is a mathematical law that governs it. I have often notice with scientific and engineering problems. Scientists find a solution and build a prototypes that they test and works well, but once they start to scale it up, it just doesn't work'

HelterSkelter1

I am watching the Simon Reeve series Scandinavia. I know the population of a country like Finland is small and they have natural resources, but their citizens trust their government to loo, after them. They pay high taxes but are looked after.
Here I feel I have to hold on to my savings for when I need to pay for my care in older age than now. I would rather have had to pay higher taxes and a social care tax and feel that what I have left over is mine to spend how I like as my future care woukd be guaranteed. So I would spend more of my savings and "income" and therefore raise by Vat more for the country's coffers.
I look forward to watching the rest of the series. Thry are happier than we are as a nation. The children especiallly happier and healthier.

My first thought, watching it, was how much danger are they in from invasion by Russia because of their natural resources?

I think they are always aware of the threat from next door.
Of course, at one time much of Finland was part of Sweden for hundreds of years and the West is particularly Swedish in culture. Then Russia invaded and Finland only became independent in 1917.

I’m watching that HelterSkelter1.
My first thoughts, when I watched the forest schools section were
That the children were properly clothed for the weather.
That the teachers could let the children take risks without the fear of being attacked by parents.

We have forest schools at lots of schools in the UK too.
E.g. We have a woodland area as part of our school grounds where children go to carry out activities like pond dipping, habitat investigation or simply observing the changing woodland scenery.
But we have to keep outdoor clothing for those children whose parents “forget it’s forest schools week” or complain bitterly if their child is sent out to play when the weather may be showery.
I noticed that despite not starting “formal” education, they were doing letter recognition activities with the young children.
Most of all I noticed the ratio of adults to children.
I can’t say whether all children there are happier and healthier, because they wouldn’t be showing us any that weren’t would they?
Looking forward to the other programs.

My first thought re the children was with so many layers what happens when they need the toilet. Ditto the adults, too [I always think that about arctic expeditions too but then it's probably down to my ibs].

Mollygo

I’m watching that HelterSkelter1.
My first thoughts, when I watched the forest schools section were
That the children were properly clothed for the weather.
That the teachers could let the children take risks without the fear of being attacked by parents.

We have forest schools at lots of schools in the UK too.
E.g. We have a woodland area as part of our school grounds where children go to carry out activities like pond dipping, habitat investigation or simply observing the changing woodland scenery.
But we have to keep outdoor clothing for those children whose parents “forget it’s forest schools week” or complain bitterly if their child is sent out to play when the weather may be showery.
I noticed that despite not starting “formal” education, they were doing letter recognition activities with the young children.
Most of all I noticed the ratio of adults to children.
I can’t say whether all children there are happier and healthier, because they wouldn’t be showing us any that weren’t would they?
Looking forward to the other programs.

Yes, they had Forest Schools at my DGDs' primary school; they were lucky in that it was a rural school with quite extensive grounds. They kept all-in-one waterproofs for all the children.

They let them out to play in the snow, too, making sure they had the waterproof overalls on over their other clothes so they could make snow angels.

I don't know if many other primary schools do this.

MayBee70

My first thought re the children was with so many layers what happens when they need the toilet. Ditto the adults, too [I always think that about arctic expeditions too but then it's probably down to my ibs].

Not only layers, I think that about anyone in a jumpsuit😲🤭

Both primary schools my grandchildren attend have Forrest schools. One has goats, hens, ducks/pond, Shetland pony and more. The children have outdoor kit ready in the cloakroom and are involved daily in feeding the animals 🌞

MayBee70

My first thought re the children was with so many layers what happens when they need the toilet. Ditto the adults, too [I always think that about arctic expeditions too but then it's probably down to my ibs].

Perhaps they have two-pieces for the younger pupils!!

Wonderful schools! I wish it was like that for many more.

I'm sorry if I've missed a step, but what have forest schools to do with WFP?

Major thread drift...

Fair enough, but it's going back several generations. and this is an important development for 'grans'.

growstuff

You're not an outlier Silverbrooks. My May usage for gas and electricity (17 days since my last bill) is £36.96, so it's just over £2 a day. The standing charge is about a third of the total.

My water/waste bill is less than £30 a month. I think £1 a day for providing clean water and disposing of my waste is a bargain.

Thanks growstuff

I am so glad I took Martin Lewis's advice to fix last autumn. His latest infographic, to tie in with the expected drop in the cap still, shows how much better it is to have fixed.

I hope everyone knows about the MSE Cheap Energy Club which finds the best deal for consumers. It's very easy to use once you have made a note of your annual usage numbers for each fuel.

Martin Lewis: Energy Price Cap announcement tomorrow likely to say it'll drop 6 - 8% on 1 July. Yet it'll still be a Pants Cap. At every point over the last year, you'd have been better off getting the cheapest 12mth fix (in my new infographic, the rainbow line is fixed price, then faint line runs forward a year so you can see how it compares) Currently the cheapest fix is 18% less than the Price Cap, so very likely (if predictions are correct) to massively undercut the Cap. You can find your cheapest (it depends on use & region) via cheapenergyclub.com

Silverbrooks The reason I didn't fix earlier this year is that I'm probably going to move house in the summer. My energy bills aren't that high anyway.

M0nica

I cannot see that using the tax band of someone's house is a fair way of deciding who gets WFA and who doesn't, I assume Martyn Lewis was assuming a low tax band for a property equated with a lower income.

However, nowadays when many older people downsize to a smaller property, a house or a flat, possibly in a retirement complex, then they are going to be in lower tax band properties, even though they have very comfortable incomes and possibly, significant savings and investments.

I think the property idea is flawed too Monica. I also think it's madness to give £200 or £300 to someone with millions or billions in the bank. Universal benefits can work but it depends on the scope, design, and the population they are design for.

*Silverbrooks link has one suggestion worth considering:

Make PC more generous. PC could be made more generous – for example, rather than reducing PC by £1 for every £1 of income, it could be withdrawn more slowly. This would entitle more – still fairly low-income – households to PC and hence WFP. The cost of this would be substantial as those already entitled to PC would become entitled to more of it.

But where does that money come from when we were left, quite despicably, with a terrible financial legacy by the last Government.

Apologies for causing a thread drift. I wanted to say how other countries look after their seniors better than the UK does. And to add now that Norway used their north sea oil resources and income far better than we did to the advantage of Norwegians.

I understand but it's always worth checking the numbers. I switched to Octopus last autumn as they don't charge exit fees if you want to switch out again before the year is out.

They are currently offering 12M Fixed May 2025 v2 which is only very marginally more than the one I'm on - less than £1 a month more to fix for another year. I'll be keeping an eye on what's offered once the new lower cap is announced.

I have always thought we would have to move to a means-tested pension in the hear future (much like the Australian system). I have also assumed that those getting a state pension currently would stay on the one they were getting.

What would happen if you laid out the plans for a means-tested pension starting immediately with new pensioners, moving those on Pension Credit onto it and offerering to move anyone who requested it, over to the means tested one having laid out what the means-tested one would give them.

It could afford to be higher than Pension Credit as fewer people would receive it. This is more a question than an answer.

Wyllow3

Major thread drift...

All part of the vagaries and fun of Gransnet 😂

PoliticsNerd Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Australians pay anything like National Insurance. What you're suggesting is that higher earners pay more into the system via National Insurance, but receive less. I think there would be a backlash. People who have paid National Insurance all their lives already receive very little more than others who haven't paid into the system but receive Pension Credit and other top ups.

Doodledog

Fair enough, but it's going back several generations. and this is an important development for 'grans'.

🤔
My DGC have only just left primary school.

Anyway, as you were!