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would means testing subsidies be bad?
Often the administration of means testing costs as much as providing the benefit to everyone. Plus if people have to actively apply you end up excluding those who don't hear about it / can't fill out paperwork / don't have good internet access etc, which is inevitably the poorest.
grams-
Yes. This is true. Especially if the scheme is designed in a rush. If they had gotten started on the work in April maybe they could have done something effective. Now we are in mid October there is no way to do this for winter 2022/23.
In principle you could imagine a system where the first essential amount of energy for each household gets a heavily subsided price and then each further block of energy attracts an ever escalating price. Probably with regional variation in the size of the blocks to reflect the fact it is a lot colder in winter in Glasgow than London for example. But doing something like this requires a focused competent government.
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yes, i guess this is correct.
Zerostar
bigshape
not to stick up for a #spitonfloor tory policy reversal or anything, but would means testing subsidies be bad?