6% of households in a negative budget
Citizens Advice warn most are working households, as it's thought the government will raise taxes.
Working households could be caught by possible tax rises, as Citizens Advice tell us around six percent of them are in a negative budget in our region.
With a reported £48 billion black hole in the government's finances, some experts say Chancellor Rachel Reeves is going to have to look to tax rises to fill the gap.
Pat Coomber-Wood is the Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, West Northamptonshire and Cherwell in Oxfordshire.
She says there's a large group of working people who don't qualify for benefits but don't make enough to live on:
"The reality is they need to look at the ones that are caught in that position where they're above the threshold for any support, but below the ability of income to actually make ends meet and make sure that they are not impacted by changes that happen to taxes."
She says for many households, a tax rise could feel like yet another hit on already stretched budgets, leaving nothing left for essentials like food, heating, and travelling to and from work.
"So many households don't have any wiggle room at all in their budget as it stands, and with food prices continuing to rise and various other things going up, if their tax were to go up on top of that, they would really be in difficult times."
Universal Credit and Council Tax
Pat says she doesn't think government has any choice but to look at changing tax thresholds, but it needs to be done in a managed way:
"They need to ensure that the people who can afford to pay more, are able to pay more and those people who just cannot make ends meet if their tax goes up are supported somehow.
"And that that could be through an increase to Universal Credit for people on low income. It could be about improving council tax support.
"Because the reality is council tax also needs to be reviewed. It's dated, you know, it's it's based on on very old assessments from 1991 property values and they're very outdated and unfair. You know, in fact council tax in some low value homes is proportionally twice as high."
Writing in The Guardian newspaper last week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that Labour's second year in power will be focused on "building a stronger economy for a renewed Britain".
She wrote: "Working people across Britain are striving and grafting, but they haven't had the tools they need for the job. They have not seen their incomes rise as a reward for their hard work.
"There is that sinking feeling that families and businesses across the country feel at the end of every month that they are working hard, but getting nowhere.
"There is nothing progressive - nothing Labour - about an economy that is not productive and does not reward those who contribute.
"Since I became shadow chancellor and then Chancellor, I have known that breaking this cycle will require our sustained effort across many fronts."
Ms Reeves also said her decision on tax rises would be set out in a "responsible manner" at the budget, despite some already "claiming to know" her plans.
Meanwhile growth in the UK economy's slowed, though it's better than forecasters were expecting.
A measure of everything produced, known as GDP, expanded 0.3% in the three months to June, with businesses grappling higher costs, like staff wages.
Citizens Advice as a charity say they are very busy at the moment, and since the pandemic, but they aim to support anybody who comes to them. Pat tells us they appreciate the support of donations and volunteers and urge people to get in touch with their local Citizens Advice.