This Is Guernsey

By Gemma Hockey

A PROPOSED inflation-beating milk price increase will target the island’s poorest and youngest. Citizens Advice Bureau manager Kate Raleigh said the additional 17p per litre, set to be introduced on 1 December, would make a significant difference to household expenditure for families on supplementary benefit.

‘I think it’s bound to affect people,’ she said. ‘If you look at the £1.19 a week extra to purchase a litre of milk each day for families on supplementary benefit, receiving £23.30 per child under five years, then that is a significant amount,’ she said.

The above-RPI move, which would follow an increase in the inflation figure to 4.9%, means a litre of milk would cost 87p.

‘Although 17p doesn’t sound like much, if you live hand to mouth, £1 or so could make a difference,’ she said.

‘And that’s just milk. With inflation at nearly 5%, people like this are going to feel it,’ said Mrs Raleigh.

She said it would affect not only those on supplementary benefit, but low earners too.

‘In the anti-poverty survey, one of the groups most vulnerable to poverty was families with young children and these are the people I would say are going to be most affected by this,’ said Mrs Raleigh.

States strategic economic adviser Andrew Birnie said there was no doubt low-income families would be affected by the 17p hike.

‘It’s not going to be good news for people with low income,’ he said.

He added that the increase might not have much influence on the next quarter’s RPI figure.

‘My instinct is that the rise in price will have a minimal effect on RPI because it is a small increase in terms of what we measure overall,’ said Mr Birnie.

‘The difficulty with trying to get a feel for this is that while we might get increases in milk, we may get decreases in other products, which might compensate for those that do increase in cost.’