Eastleigh: Council declares cost of living emergency

A Hampshire council has declared a cost of living emergency and urged the government to do more to tackle it.

On Thursday, Eastleigh Borough Council followed a number of local authorities to vote through a motion on the crisis.

The Lib-Dem council called for a number of measures, including reducing the standard rate of VAT from 20% to 17.5 % for one year - to save households an average of £600, it said.

The government has been approached for a comment.

Among other measures, the council wants to see restoration of the £20 uplift for Universal Credit claimants.

Council leader Keith House, said the authority would do everything in its power to support residents.

"But more must be done at central government level to alleviate this crisis," he added.

The council has also called for the reintroduction of the pensions triple lock, the policy used to set how much the state pension rises each year.

A letter has already been sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the council said.

The authority is one of several across the country to have declared a cost of living emergency in the past weeks.

It comes after Eastbourne in East Sussex became the first council to declare such an emergency in May.

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