Labour urges Rishi Sunak to urgently freeze Council Tax, as Oil and Gas profits hit record high due to Tory failure

Labour has [on Sunday, April 2] demanded that Rishi Sunak’s Government “get on the side of working people” and enforce a freeze on Council Tax, as ONS figures confirm for the first time that 2022 was a record year for North Sea Oil and Gas profits.

The Labour Party has been clear that a proper Windfall Tax on Oil and Gas profits would fund a Council Tax freeze this year, which would stop the average bills from rising to up to £2,000 for the first time. Keir Starmer, Labour Leader, has urged Rishi Sunak’s Government to implement an urgent freeze, with assurance that the Labour Party would do what was needed to get the policy agreed and in place quickly.

With the cost of living continuing to bite, and families seeing a £3,500 rise in the cost of everyday essentials, Labour has said that this set of upcoming Local Elections are for families to see whose side the Conservative Government are on.

Shell and BP have already reported record profits over the last year, as energy giants have raked inflated profits as global energy prices have surged. The figures, which show a sharp spike in profits over the last year, confirm officially that while ordinary working people have been hit by soaring bills, others are making huge gains from windfalls of war.

The Tories are once again effectively forcing councils to put up Council Tax by reducing funding to councils and then granting them additional ‘flexibilities’ to raise Council Tax. This is resulting in a rise of 5.1% on average.

Labour has said it would tackle the cost-of-living crisis by:

• Freezing council tax for this year, funded by a proper windfall tax on oil and gas giants.  
• Keeping energy bills low for good by insulating 19 million homes.  
• Reversing the Tory decision to hand the richest 1% of pension savers £1 billion in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, and instead introduce specific measures to keep doctors in work. 
• Closing the non-dom tax loophole, so people who live and work here pay their tax here and use that money to fund one of the biggest expansions of the NHS workforce in history and free Breakfast Clubs at every primary school.

Ed Miliband MP, Labour’s Shadow Energy, Climate Change and Net Zero Secretary, said:

“While families face the crunch from soaring bills, these new figures confirm yet again that the government are refusing to do the fair and right thing and bring in a proper Windfall Tax on Oil and Gas giants to help ease the cost of living crisis facing households.

“By showing that right now a Labour government would freeze Council Tax this year – funded by a proper Windfall Tax on the enormous profits of Oil and Gas giants – we are showing exactly who is on the side of working people this local election.

“A vote for Labour on 4th May is a vote to Build a Better Britain for working people.”

Ends

Notes

First confirmation from ONS that 2022 was a record year for North Sea profits:

Source: UK Economic Accounts time series - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

Figures (£m):