A lot of local people have been talking to me about the uncertain economic climate and the troubles in the banking sector which have seen the nationalisations of Northern Rock and the Bradford & Bingley. 

The Labour government is taking decisive action to protect the deposits of ordinary account-holders.  The decision to raise the guarantee for bank savings from £35,000 to £50,000 will hopefully reassure depositors in Streatham, Balham, Brixton, Clapham and Tulse Hill, that the government will not allow the recent problems in the banking sector to jeopardise your savings.  Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised to do “whatever is necessary” to stabilise banking and protect ordinary account-holders in these difficult times.

This weekend, the Prime Minister is meeting with other European leaders at a summit in Paris to address the current economic problems, hoping to agree new banking rules which will tackle the underlying causes of the current problems in the financial sector.  I will keep local people up to date with further measures the government announces which will help them (I am pictured talking to a local resident outside the Lambeth Savings & Credit Union on Brixton Hill).

As of last week, everyone in Streatham (a parliamentary constituency overing Streatham, parts of Clapham, Balham, Tulse Hill and Brixton) will be eligible for at least 50% off loft and cavity wall insulation, with everyone on low incomes and all pensioners able to get these for free.  Cold weather payments for the most vulnerable will be increased from £8.50 to £25 a week.

Improving the insulation in your property could save you £350 a year on energy bills. Call 0800 512 012 to find out what help is available to you.

Chuka has been concerned about rising energy costs for some time, calling for the Government to help those hit hardest by recent price rises immediately and also invest more resources in schemes to reduce energy use in the long term.

On hearing about the new measures, Chuka said: “These measures will help local people to reduce the impact their energy use has on the environment – and on their wallets.”

Gareth Williams

On Tuesday the government announced that homebuyers will not have to pay stamp duty on properties costing £175,000 or less for the next 12 months.  Tonight Chuka will be discussing Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s big speech this evening to the Scottish CBI and what else the government is doing to help ordinary working people in Streatham and beyond with writer and broacaster, Lance Price, and others at 10pm on BBC Radio 4.  To listen to the programme, click here: BBC Radio 4 - The World Tonight (4 Sep ‘08)

The average annual spend on domestic energy per household has now breached £1,200. Since 2000, consumers in Streatham and beyond have faced gas price rises of 100% and electricity price rises of 61%. At the same time, the main energy providers have seen their profits rise from £557 million in 2003 to over £3 billion now.

In an article on the Guardian newspaper’s website on 7 August 2008, Chuka wrote:
“Shell, BP and Centrica (which owns British Gas) reportedly made £1,000 every second of the day for the first six months of this year. To put this in context, what BP presently makes in profit every month is roughly equivalent to what my local council, Lambeth, spends on running local services every year.”

Every 10% increase in energy prices leads to an extra 400,000 people joining the 2.5 million already living in fuel poverty in Britain today. Chuka pointed out that people living in communities like Streatham, containing some of the most deprived wards in the country, “are being clobbered.”

So Chuka has called on the government to levy a windfall tax on the energy companies to help ordinary people. Commenting on why he supports this measure, he said,
“I am in the business of politics because I want to build a fairer, more equal, democratic and sustainable world for people here - I think this necessitates, amongst other things, government intervention where appropriate, which is I am calling for this measure.”
“The point is not to punish the energy companies – the winners in this situation - for their unearned fruits, or even that the increase in global fuel prices is their fault; the point is that those fruits should be spread more widely to relieve the burden on the many residents in Streatham, Brixton, Clapham, Tulse Hill and beyond who, faced with these huge price rises, are the loosers here.”

Chuka has said the windfall tax, in the short term, should be ring-fenced to immediately help those struggling with rising fuel bills and to ensure every home is insulated and energy efficient to the highest standards; in the long term, he thinks proceeds could also be invested in renewable energy production. If you agree with Chuka, you can join the campaign for a windfall tax on the energy companies by signing up by here (scroll down to the bottom).

Above, five local residents of Streatham say what they think about the proposal.

Jamie Audsley

What are they? Credit Unions are financial co-operatives owned and controlled by their members. They offer savings and loans at affordable rates. They are local, ethical and, because they are owed by their members, know what their members want.

Above all, Credit Unions are run for the benefit of the community and not the loan sharks who prey on deprived communities offering unsecured loans at outrageous rates of interest, or for the shareholders of big commercial banks. That is why I am such a fan of them and visited Lambeth Savings and Credit Union on Brixton Hill (situated in the Streatham parliamentary constituency) to sign up myself to become a credit union member last weekend (I am pictured signing up at the LSCU).  I fully support what they do.

Lambeth Savings and Credit Union been serving Lambeth’s people since February 2006 and is supported by a broad alliance of voluntary organisations, community and faith groups and local government.

How do they work? Members of a credit unions pool their savings together. These savings then provide a pool of funds from which loans can be made at affordable rates. It is run by a volunteer Board of Directors, all of whom are members of the credit union, elected by the membership at an Annual General Meeting. All members of the credit union have one vote; regardless of the size of their savings. To find out more about Lambeth Savings and Credit Union, log on to their website - www.lscu.org.uk.