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The Mancunian Way: Gaslit on energy bills

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Hello,

It’s starting to get that little bit chillier and many of us are considering turning the heating on as the nights begin to draw in.

But for retired midwife Judith Stenner the idea of flicking that switch was a cause of constant concern for almost six years. The 72-year-old was left paying the energy bills for a neighbouring family-of-four[2] thanks to a crossed meter.

Her energy bills increase from £60-a-month to more than £400. Told she was a ‘high energy user’, the pensioner did everything in her power to reduce her bills, rarely cooking at home and turning her heating off during the winter months.

It was finally revealed this summer that her meter was crossed, but it took another 14 weeks and for her MP to raise the matter in Parliament before the necessary changes were made.

Speaking in the Commons, Manchester Gorton MP Afzal Khan insisted no vulnerable person ‘should be going to bed cold at night’ while Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt condemned the ‘appalling situation’.

Scottish Power has apologised and said overpayments and compensation will be considered as they recalculate the account. But Mr Khan says it's high time energy providers ‘get their act together’.

“Judith has been treated terribly, and gaslit for years on the cost of her utilities,” he says. “I believe energy providers should be working for their customers, but it feels too often they are working against them. The entire sector needs to get its act together.”

Breast cancer survivor Ms Stenner said she went into a ‘numb phase that nobody is believing you and nobody is listening’ as she struggled to resolve the issue and her bills kept rising.

“It’s been frustrating, not to be heard, not to be listened to, it’s damaged me financially, my life has probably been on a bit of a hold because I’ve done a lot of things, but more than that it’s the wider issue of company policy, inefficiency, bad training, bad management,” she told the PA news agency.

Afzal Khan MP

Her daughter, Semra Kurutac said her mum had electricians check her appliances and even got a new immersion heater installed which was ‘completely unnecessary’.

Ms Stenner questioned how many other people are experiencing similar treatment with other companies, including energy firms. “I’m used to fighting battles in the NHS, I’m used to defending women, I’m used to all sorts of issues, but personally I didn’t realise it at the time but, as they say up here, that did my head in,” she said. “I just hope there’s a possible wider implication that my case could be a positive help for other people.”

Worrying about a having a place to sleep

This story, by Ethan Davies,[3] demonstrates how easy it can be to fall through the gaps and find yourself homeless. Ethan spoke to Eric, who says he missed an appointment with his job coach a decade ago, was sanctioned and ended up £4,500 in rent arrears. He says authorities admitted a mistake and repaid him the money sanctioned but did not refund his arrears.

Since then, Eric has been homeless having spent four years on the streets and five in temporary accommodation. Speaking from the Barnabus homeless centre in Manchester city centre, Eric told Ethan he is unable to bid for social housing in Manchester and fell into drug addiction while on the streets.

Though he is now recovered, the 53-year-old is currently suffering from septic arthritis in his knee. He is living in disabled accommodation and will soon move into a supported living facility.

“I will try and get over my PTSD. I might be there for six months and find my own place. I can just concentrate on my mental health and not worry about where I am going to sleep,” he told Ethan.

Eighteen months ago, 28 people a month were using the Barnabus centre. In July that figure had jumped to 54. CEO Yvonne Hope, is braced for a tough winter and says the charity desperately needs to repair one of its showers for clients.

They’re hoping to raise £35,000 from the public in order to access a further £50,000 of grants for the work. You can support Barnabus’ fundraiser here.[4]

'Still at the foothills'

Manchester is 'still at the foothills' of its economic revival and needs a bigger city centre with more office space; 126,000 more homes around it and better transport links if it is to grow like London.

That’s according to a report by The Resolution Foundation which says Greater Manchester has outperformed every other major city-region bar Glasgow on productivity since 2002, but is still far below the UK average. The Tale of Two Cities report warns of 'complacency' as the sight of cranes in central Manchester seems to signify success to some, as Joseph Timan reports.[5]

However, on current trends, the think tank says it would take almost a century to close the productivity gap with London to a 'reasonable point'. The report looks at what needs to be done to get that gap down from 35 per cent to 20 per cent.

It argues that a bigger city centre would attract more 'knowledge-intensive' businesses in sectors like IT and insurance and more highly-skilled workers. It also recommends 126,000 more homes are built in 'well-connected' areas.

Controversially, it calls for more office space to be created in the city centre with new housing to be built around it. The report suggests a 'new approach' - contrary to the current long-held plans for the city-region - with more housebuilding in places like Tameside, Rochdale, Stockport and Bury.

'I can honestly say RBH is in a much better place'

The interim chief executive of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing has stepped down after being brought in to turn the housing provider around[6] following the death of Awaab Ishak.

Yvonne Arrowsmith was appointed last December following an inquest that revealed the toddler died after prolonged exposure to mould and damp at his home on the Freehold estate. She led RBH's recovery plan after it was found to have 'missed opportunities' to tackle the issues by the Regulator of Social Housing.

Ms Arrowsmith said RBH has made ‘significant progress’ on that plan and will continue to make changes to improve homes and services. “I can honestly say that RBH is in a much better place than it was. I know that there is still a way to go to embed the changes we have made and ensure that tenants remain at the centre of all we do," she said.

Amanda Newton was confirmed as RBH's new chief executive in June.

'They are not where they need to be'

Andy Burnham says he is ‘frustrated’ that Avanti’s West Coast Mainline contract has been renewed by the government - potentially for up to nine years.

"It's frustrating because they are not where they need to be. I personally do not think they have made the case to have a long-term renewal,” the Greater Manchester mayor said.[7] “I think they have clearly made some improvements but are services where they need to be? Well, no they are not. That's why I think an extension of the probation that they were under would have been more appropriate than the long-term renewal."

Mr Burnham has been a vocal critic of Avanti, especially when the operator cut services from Manchester to London in 2022.

But the company’s contract has now been renewed after the Department for Transport cited said Avanti has reduced the proportion of trains cancelled to 'as low as 1.1 per cent over the past year'.[8]

Passenger Hannah Middleton is yet to see the results herself. She regularly travels from Levenshulme to London via Manchester Piccadilly London for work and says trains are often cancelled or delayed. “Services are also less frequent than under the previous franchise, so I have to set off much earlier, or sometimes even travel down the night before if I don’t want to risk being late for important meetings. You just can’t rely on the service any more,” she said.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said Avanti 'hadn't done enough' to deserve the contract

The RMT union - which is in a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions - says Avanti is ‘incapable of running an efficient rail service or treating the staff properly’. Union boss Mick Lynch says the operator is ‘one of the worst rail companies on the network’ adding: “By granting a company like Avanti with a lucrative taxpayer funded contract, the government is rewarding abject failure.”

But yesterday, Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, told The Mancunian Way the ‘key thing is to run an effective service’.[9] “It’s better to run less trains and run them reliably than to keep cancelling services,” he said. He also called for investment in a more cost effective fleet. “In the North of England we need better rolling stock and better trains to London.”

Sign up to The Mancunian Way

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Weather etc

Thursday: Sunny intervals changing to light showers by lunchtime. 16C.

Road closures: A57 Eccles New Road eastbound, Weaste, closed due to Metrolink works from A5185 Stott Lane to James Corbett Road. The road was closed westbound but these works have been completed, and now the road has been closed eastbound as work continues. Until Sept 25.

A667 Stoneclough Road, Kearsley, in both directions closed due to roadworks between Brook Street and Quarry Road. Until Oct 1.

A5145 Kingsway, Stretford, eastbound closed due to long-term roadworks between A5181 Barton Road and A56 Chester Road. Until August 31.

A62 Manchester Road, Chadderton, out of town closed due to water main work between M60 J22 (Failsworth) and B6189 Drury Lane. Until September 25.

Manchester headlines

  • Sky sanctuary: A student accommodation block in Salford, which features a panoramic roof-top terrace, a ‘Sky Sanctuary’ communal study space and a festival zone, has been sold for almost £70m. The 14-storey Salford Two development has been bought by Bricks Group and Tristan Capital Partners’ CCP 5 Fund for £68m. More here[11].

  • Central Bay: A brand new waterfront food and drink destination with a sun terrace and host of food traders at Salford Quays has finally been unveiled. Part of a wider £3.5 million transformation of the waterfront stretch at Quayside MediaCity, the new drinking and dining destination Central Bay is one of the biggest operations of its kind - not only in Greater Manchester, but the North of England. See the pictures here.[12]

  • Factory: Plans for a new factory have been approved despite concerns[13] it would cut off access to a historic chapel that claimed to be the first ‘independent church in England’. Tameside’s planning committee has granted approval for a two-storey industrial building on land off Globe Lane in Dukinfield. It would form part of Broadway Industrial Estate, which is an established employment area in Tameside’s local plan.

  • Strikes: Train drivers are set to stage fresh strikes[14] that will hit the Conservative party’s annual conference next month in their long-running dispute over pay. Trade union Aslef has announced members at 16 train operators will walk out on September 30 - the day before the conference - and October 4, the final day of the event. The union said the strikes will force train operators to cancel all services.

Worth a read

I spent much of my childhood pottering around the parade of shops on West Didsbury’s Lapwing Lane. From the old Inman’s newsagents to the Blockbuster Video where I served customers during my teenage years, the Edwardian arcade formed a big part of my formative years.

So it was lovely to read this piece by Adam Maidment[15] about the history of the stretch, including how it was saved from the brink of ruin thanks to a local fundraising campaign.

In the words of fundraiser Mike Bath: “It saw West Didsbury go from being the poor relation of Didsbury to maybe it being turned the other way round.”

You can read the full piece here.[16]

The shopping arcade on Lapwing Lane dates back some 110 years The shopping arcade on Lapwing Lane dates back some 110 years

That's all for today

Thanks for joining me. If you have stories you would like us to look into, email [email protected][17].

If you have enjoyed this newsletter today, why not tell a friend how to sign up[18]?

References

  1. ^ right here (mancunianway.co.uk)
  2. ^ left paying the energy bills for a neighbouring family-of-four (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
  3. ^ This story, by Ethan Davies, (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
  4. ^ You can support Barnabus’ fundraiser here. (www.crowdfunder.co.uk)
  5. ^ as Joseph Timan reports. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
  6. ^ has stepped down after being brought in to turn the housing provider around (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
  7. ^ the Greater Manchester mayor said. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
  8. ^ to 'as low as 1.1 per cent over the past year'. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
  9. ^ told The Mancunian Way the ‘key thing is to run an effective service’. (e.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
  10. ^ clicking on this link (data.reachplc.com)
  11. ^ More here (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
  12. ^ See the pictures here. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
  13. ^ have been approved despite concerns (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
  14. ^ set to stage fresh strikes (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
  15. ^ this piece by Adam Maidment (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
  16. ^ You can read the full piece here. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
  17. ^ [email protected] (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
  18. ^ sign up (mancunianway.co.uk)

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