Teresa Ribera, Third Vice President of the Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge has assured that the changes that are going to be made in the electric social bonus, aimed at large or vulnerable families, will be made with a margin so that the beneficiaries can accredit it and not be “in no man’s land”.
In statements to journalists in San Sebastián, after participating in the inauguration of the new Naturklima headquarters, Ribera reiterated that changes will be made in access to this aid “given the audacity of using something that is designed for vulnerable people” that ” been seen in the last few days.”
Thus, he has pointed out that, “after years in which there have been repeated debates about whether a maximum income reference should also have been introduced for these large families, obviously also modulated by the number of people living in the same household “, “an income limit” will be introduced, since, as he has said, “not only is it enough that those who have the right, but feel that they have a need, can request it, but it is necessary to indicate with total clarity that this is so”.
The minister explained that “this is going to materialize by introducing something very similar to what already exists for units of people who live together, who do not have to have a family relationship.” It is about “calculating the income of that household and depending on the number of people, obviously with a greater impact and with an upward correction factor for each of the children who live together, introduce a limit that will be higher than the that exist for the coexistence units, which will take into account the number of people who live together”.
After trusting that it can “materialize and agree as soon as possible”, Ribera has assured that this modification “means that the large families that today will benefit from this bonus must contribute their income, that is, that there is a question of documentary accreditation that it will take time”, and the central government wants to “give room for them to do it”.
“We are not concerned about people who, not being vulnerable, have requested it, obviously these people should not continue to benefit from either the electric social bonus or the thermal social bonus; we are concerned that many times there are families that are vulnerable and will have additional difficulty in presenting the documentation that accredits the income and the number of people who live together, so we will give a long term to be able to introduce this correction”, he asserted.
a priority
The third vice president has affirmed that the intention of the central Executive is to “activate and release the proposal to public information as soon as possible and resolve it immediately”, giving a period of time so that the affected groups “can present the documentation and are not in no man’s land in which they cannot continue to enjoy themselves because it is not clear that they meet the requirements”.
It has also happened that these people may need “extra time” to be able to provide this documentation both to the marketers, “which are the companies in the case of the electric social bonus that confirm access to this benefit”, as well as to the autonomous community , “who is the one who has just materialized the payment charged to the general state budget once a year for the thermal social bonus.”
The Minister for Ecological Transition has specified, regarding the established ceilings, that “we are talking about higher income margins than for the current categories”. “Probably, a large family needs to be able to consider disposable income a much higher figure than the 26 or 27,000 euros of cohabiting persons that appear in the current regulation,” she concluded.
“Obviously, large families with three children or four children are not the same as large families that may have more. We can find families in which the parents each bring children from previous relationships and who, therefore, live together for a a very significant number of people under the same roof and this means much more spending, power and greater consumption than in homes where far fewer people live”, he concluded.
