Yorkshire council in talks to set up 'warm banks' this winter as energy bills rocket

East Riding Council has not yet announced any definite plans but it is understood that officials are drawing up measures behind the scenes.

Council leader Coun Jonathan Owen told a full East Riding meeting in July libraries and other leisure centres could be potential venues for what have been dubbed ‘warm banks’ elsewhere.

It comes after East Riding councillors from the ruling Conservatives and opposition Liberal Democrats backed a motion declaring a Cost of Living Emergency in July.

Coun Owen and East Riding Deputy Leader Coun Anne Handley said in July £4.4m had already been set aside to help those struggling amid spiralling rates of inflation.

Council efforts to tackle the crisis at that time mainly centred around targeted financial support for the most vulnerable and advising those on low incomes how they could get help.

Inflation now stands at 10.1 per cent and investment bank Goldman Sachs has forecast rates peaking as high as 22 per cent next year. Energy bills were set to rise by around 80 per cent from October when Ofgem reviewed its Price Cap.

Incoming Prime Minister Liz Truss has since capped household rates at £2,500 for two years under her Energy Price Guarantee. A six-month scheme has also been launched to help businesses and other non-domestic users such as charities.

But households still face higher bills as winter forces them to switch on their central heating or stay indoors for longer, using more power. The situation has prompted North East Lincolnshire Council to look to put on warm banks where people can go to avoid the cold.

A council spokesperson said: “We are in discussions with a network of community and partner organisations and will do all it can to support such groups in their plans for warm banks, along with other measures to assist our residents through the oncoming winter.”

Other councils including Glasgow and Birmingham have also said they are drawing up plans for such facilities. Manchester City Council also announced plans for warm banks last week and urged the Government to do more to help households and businesses.

Ms Truss said decades of short-term thinking on energy had led to the current price spikes which the war in Ukraine has fuelled.

The prime minister said: “I’m acting immediately so people and businesses are supported over the next two years, with a new Energy Price Guarantee, and tackling the root cause of the issues by boosting domestic energy supply. Extraordinary challenges call for extraordinary measures, ensuring that the United Kingdom is never in this situation again.”