- Conference
- 2024 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 18 September 2023
- Decision
- Carried
Conference, many of our women members some of whom are disabled are on low pay, working part time and living on a limited budget.
A significant number of these women work in social care, for the NHS, local authorities, or private care companies.
Conference notes that caring responsibilities also disproportionately fall on women.
The massive increase of household fuel costs, petrol and low mileage costs have thrown some families into poverty, financial debt and even homelessness, while energy companies boast of continuous increases in profits.
Many of our members can no longer afford to use their cars for work or visit their patients in care homes or hospitals due to the high cost of fuel, low mileage allowances, car parking costs at both public and hospital car parks or costs of parking tickets when parking on streets.
Many women, especially disabled women have lost their jobs since Covid, and it has been challenging to find extra hours or extra income because of access issues or lack of reasonable adjustments. For those who are in employment, their earnings are failing to keep up pace with the escalating rate of inflation.
Conference calls on the National Women’s Committee:
1)To work alongside the NEC and our political funds to lobby government to cap household energy costs to ensure bills continue to reduce.
2. To continue to lobby the HMRC to increase mileage allowance from 45p (2020/2022) up to the first 10k travelled to a more reasonable 59p.
3. To campaign for employers and local authorities to give dispensation to care staff to be allowed to park on the streets, like parking vouchers that employers can purchase on behalf of staff, where it is necessary to easily access patients.
4. To work alongside the NEC and our political funds to lobby the UK government to work on increasing the mileage allowance for all workers who work in the Health and Care professions.