Anger as Winter fuel support delayed until the Spring

Helen Morgan has hit out at Government incompetence after it was revealed that winter fuel payments for many off-grid homes have been further delayed and will not be paid until winter is over.

The North Shropshire MP challenged Energy Minister Graham Stuart in the House of Commons on Wednesday, saying that sending families money in the spring after a cold winter is too late [see full text below].

Problems with an online portal mean residents of park homes, houseboats and fully off-grid households will have to wait until February 27 to apply for the support they are eligible for and are unlikely to receive any money before late March.

This includes both the £400 support that other houses have already been receiving via £66 instalments on their energy bills (Energy Bills Support Scheme) and the overdue £200 payment for households off the gas grid (Alternative Fuel Payment).

It means around 400,000 people without a domestic electricity supply contract, which includes families living in park home and houseboats, will not receive any help with their winter fuel bills until the spring.

Hundreds of thousands more households, including more than 30,000 in Shropshire, have a direct mains electricity supply but are off the gas grid are still waiting for the £200 they were promised in the Autumn Statement.

The majority of these homes use heating oil or LPG to stay warm and have seen their bills treble over the past 18 months but have received no Government support. The £200 payment for them is now due to be paid from February 6.

Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire, said:

“Once again the Conservatives are taking rural areas like North Shropshire for granted.

“It sums up the incompetence of this Government that winter will be over by the time many families receive much-needed winter support.

“Here in North Shropshire we have people in park homes and houseboats whose heating bills have rocketed but they have not received a penny of support from the Government.

“Meanwhile families who use heating oil or LPG are forking out far more than people in urban areas and are now having to ration their warmth.

“Rishi Sunak has ignored repeated warnings from MPs of all parties and in doing so has proved he does not understand the needs of rural areas.”

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Notes

Speaking in the House of Commons, Helen Morgan MP said:

“People who are living in marinas on houseboats and who are sub-metered and in my constituency, who are often also off the gas grid, are not only using a prepayment card, so self disconnecting, when they can't afford their energy, they're being charged a pass through commercial rate, often with the 20% VAT added on.

“They haven't had help for their heating, they haven't had help for their electricity, and they're self disconnecting. Does the Minister accept that some money in the spring when they've gone through this terrible cold winter already, is just too late for them?”

Energy Minister Graham Stuart MP replied:

“Well, I share the frustration of the Honourable Lady and obviously we would like that to have got to them sooner, but I've laid out the reasons why not. What they will have if they are supplied to their electricity through a commercial supply, then of course the EBRS has been done directly reducing those bills through that commercial supply, which would then and we've put in place legislation to require the passing on of those government interventions to the end recipients.”

Alternative Fuel Payment

People off the gas grid are eligible for £200 via the Alternative Fuel Payment Scheme.

For households with a domestic electricity contract, this £200 is due to be paid via their electricity bills on February 6.

Households without a domestic electricity contract will have to apply for the £200 via an online portal.

Energy Minister Graham Stuart confirmed the launch of this online portal has been delayed until February 27 and households are unlikely to receive money before late March.

Energy Bills Support Scheme

Every household is eligible for £400 of support via the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

Households with a domestic electricity contract have been receiving this support via monthly instalments, paid automatically in discounts of £66 to energy bills.

Households without a domestic electricity contract yet to receive any of this support and the Government has previously indicated it will be paid via the same delayed online portal used to provide Alternative Fuel Payments.

The Government estimated last July that around 400,000 people will not receive the automatic £400 payments and will need paying through alternative means.

The latest information published by the Government on both schemes is available here.

The situation in Shropshire

In Shropshire 30,727 homes (25%) do not use mains gas or electricity for heating. Of these:

• 20,902 homes (17%) rely on heating oil for heating
• 4,554 homes (4%) rely on tank or bottled gas for heating
• 1,982 homes (2%) have no central heating
• 1,611 homes (1%) use renewable energy for heating
• 964 homes use wood (<1%)
• 714 homes use solid fuel (<1%)

Liberal Democrat proposals

The Liberal Democrats proposed a price cap for families in off-grid homes. This would apply to heating oil and LPG and function in a similar manner to the price cap already in place for electricity and gas bills.

This would have been far simpler to roll-out than the Alternative Fuel Payment Scheme and would have allowed families to benefit from support when they needed to – ie when purchasing fuel to heat their homes – instead of several months later.