Support the Hardship Emergency Motion

PBP MLA Gerry Carroll has put forward an emergency motion calling on the Stormont Executive to declare a hardship emergency to immediately institute measures to protect people against unsustainable energy hikes, the cut to Universal Credit and other rising costs.

It requires 30 MLA signatures to be debated by the Stormont Assembly. Sign the petition today and call on your local MLA to add their signature to the motion here ⬇️

http://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/mlas/emails.aspx

Motion in full here ⬇️

Hardship Emergency

"That this Assembly acknowledges the enormous levels of hardship many people in our communities will face this winter as a result of skyrocketing energy costs, the cruel cut to Universal Credit, real-terms pay cuts, across the board cost of living increases, and that food banks and advice providers are stretched to their limits; further acknowledges that for many families, children, and individuals, it is no longer a question of deciding whether to heat or eat, as many are not in a position to afford either; recognises, in the face of such hardship, the failure of the Executive to allocate either the £55 million earmarked for an Energy Payment Support Scheme, or the £13.8 million from the UK Vulnerable Households Scheme, as well as the unacceptable reduction in winter fuel payment spending, year on year, since 2016; agrees to declare a hardship emergency, as demanded by the hardship crisis protest held at Stormont; and calls on the Executive to meet at the earliest opportunity to agree a response to this emergency, including an expansion of the winter fuel payment scheme and a commitment from the Minister for Communities, alongside her Executive colleagues, to identify and allocate top-up payments where necessary, the immediate allocation of £55 million to the Department for Communities for an Energy Payment Support Scheme and an emergency scheme to allocate this funding, and the restoration of the £20 Universal Credit uplift; and further calls on the Executive to develop a long term strategy for dealing with winter hardship, to be debated and voted on by the Assembly."