PANICKING school chiefs say they are considering buying jumpers to keep poorer kids warm in class this winter as energy bills rocket.
The stark warning comes as the Treasury draws up proposals to send hard-pressed families cheques in the post to ease the cost of living hell.
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Officials are scrambling to come up with a plan after the energy price cap was hiked to £3,549 on Friday. It is expected to hit £6,600 next year.
Last night, schools chief Steve Chalke said headteachers are drawing up contingency plans as they brace for rocketing bills gobbling up budgets.
Mr Chalke — who runs the Oasis Academies chain — said: “Whatever happens, we have got to keep the heating on in schools. We can’t allow students to freeze.
“We may be able to turn it down by a degree or two and ask everybody to wear jumpers.
“Schools may ask children to bring jumpers in, but we have a lot of students from poor socio-economic groups. So we will have to provide the jumpers.”
He is also braced for a surge in pupils heading to school breakfast clubs as the biggest squeeze in living standards in nearly 50 years hammers household finances.
Anxious families are already rationing their energy use as they prepare for their costs to go through the roof this winter.
Treasury officials have been drawing up various bailout options for after the next Prime Minister is announced on September 5.
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The Sun on Sunday understands they are looking at sending cheques to needy households in the post to shave hundreds off bills.
The idea was considered earlier in the year — but ruled out because then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak thought it was too complicated.
But it is being looked at again now. Government insiders reckon it would pack a bigger punch than his council tax rebate because households would notice it landing on doormats.
No11 is also understood to be looking at plans to provide support to people earning up to £50,000 a year.
Yesterday, Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi suggested middle class Brits on £45,000 a year will need help with their bills.
And the Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza will this week insist the next PM puts families at the centre of the cost of living bailout. She will say in a report that failing to do so will end up costing the taxpayer more in the long run.
Liz Truss — favourite to be the next PM — is hunkered down with her closest aides in her official country residence Chevening House in Kent to thrash out plans for a multi-billion pound bailout package if she wins.
She is also said to be considering cuts to income tax for poorer workers, as well as cuts to VAT and fuel duty.
Last night, she assured families that help is on the way, saying: “I have a clear plan to get Britain through this storm — and out the other side.”
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‘Hope over fear’
Her rival Mr Sunak has suggested he will cover the entire rise for the vulnerable. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson — who leaves No 10 next week — insisted Britain will not “buckle” under the pressure of the crisis.
Speaking just a week before she is expected to be handed the keys to No 10, Ms Truss said: “A recession is not inevitable, but we need to make sure we do not talk ourselves into one. I don’t believe in managed decline and I won’t accept it. I believe in hope over fear.”
Both candidates for the PM job are also looking at protecting the elderly from soaring energy bills.
Ms Truss is considering beefing up winter fuel payments, while Mr Sunak will push a chunk of his bailout cash to OAPs.
Mr Johnson, meanwhile, urged Brits not to “throw in the sponge” in the fight against Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, despite the bills crisis.
He wrote: “It is Putin’s war that is costing British consumers.
“That is why your energy bill is doubling. I am afraid Putin knows it. He likes it. And he wants us to buckle.”
As the crisis spirals, The Sun on Sunday can reveal ministers are planning for a cost of living crime wave and possible riots.
Government officials have drawn up plans to cope with mass unrest as energy bills soar.
Work is also being done across government to prepare for possible blackouts this winter, as Russia turns off the gas taps to Europe.
Hospitals and schools are being told to have back-up generators working to keep the lights on. But government insiders insist they are confident blackouts will not strike as we do not buy oil and gas from Russia.
A government spokesman said: “We know schools are facing cost pressures, in particular rising energy bills.
“In 2022-23, core schools funding will increase by £4billion compared to 2021-22 — seven per cent in cash terms per pupil boost.
“The IFS has recently confirmed this means increased costs will be broadly affordable for schools in 2022-23.”
As bills rise, Tory MPs have privately admitted they are facing uproar from families and businesses.
One said: “It is bad out there. The milk is souring.”
