Vulnerable people excluded from energy support

Vulnerable people are struggling to heat their homes due to the Government’s failure to provide the winter support it promised last year, an MP has said. Helen Morgan spoke in the House of Commons to raise the plight of families living in off-grid homes who are still waiting for help with their energy bills.

While most people have benefited from the energy price cap and the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme, others have not received a penny from the Government to help with spiralling costs.

People without a direct electricity supply who use alternative fuels to heat their homes – such as heating oil, liquid gas and wood – are yet to be given any energy support from the Government despite being promised £200 in Alternative Fuel Payments last autumn.

Others, who were not expecting a £200 payment, have been automatically given the money out of the blue.

Helen Morgan MP said, “It’s really not fair that vulnerable people have been forced to go through all of winter without a penny of support from the Government.

“These schemes should have been sorted out months ago but Government chaos has let families down again. These mistakes must be rectified ASAP so that people in park homes, houseboats and off-grid homes can get the support they need.

“As normal, rural areas have been neglected by the Government and it is families across places like North Shropshire who are suffering as a result.”

Many of these people are also yet to receive any help from the Energy Bills Support Scheme which promised £400 to all eligible homes to help with winter fuel. Most households received this cash automatically via credits on electricity bills but people without an electricity supply – like those in houseboats or park homes – are having to apply online.

Some people who expected to be eligible and are yet to receive any help have been turned down, while other people who did not ask for the money have been given it – a point raised in the House of Commons by Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael [see transcript below].

Liberal Democrats are calling for an extended windfall tax on oil and gas giants, as well as a one-off tax on the “bonanza bonuses” of energy firm executives to help protect families and businesses from the continued high cost of energy.

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Notes

Alternative Fuels Payment

Households off the gas grid that use alternative fuels to heat their homes (eg LPG, oil or wood) are eligible for a £200 Alternative Fuels Payment.

Most eligible homes have been getting this payment automatically as a credit on their electricity bills. Those who are also off the electricity grid must apply for the money but the online portal to do so has still not opened.

More details about the scheme are available here: https://www.gov.uk/get-help-energy-bills/alternative-fuels

Energy Bills Support Scheme

All households with a domestic electricity connection in England, Scotland and Wales are eligible for a £400 payment under the EBSS to help with energy bills this winter.

People who do not have a direct relationship with an electricity supplier (eg park home, off-grid or houseboat residents) have to apply for the funding online.

The online portal for applications has belatedly opened this week, but some residents are now being told they are not eligible. This includes houseboat residents who do not have a permanent mooring. As such they are yet to receive any help from the Government.

More details on how to apply are available here: https://www.gov.uk/apply-energy-bill-support-if-not-automatic

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Transcripts of Commons questions:

Speaking at Business Questions in the House of Commons, Helen Morgan said:

“It's the second day of meteorological spring and people who are off grid, and also off the electricity grid, and who don't have a direct relationship with their electricity supplier, are still waiting for the portal for which they can apply for a payment to go live.

“These are some of the most vulnerable people. In some cases they're in park homes or canal boats and they haven't had any help with their fuel bills for the whole winter.

“So can we ask for a statement from the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on how and when these people can expect some help with their energy bills?”

Leader of the House, Penny Mordaunt, promised to follow the issue up with the Secretary of State.

Speaking at Business Questions about alternative fuel payments, Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael said: “Can the Leader of the House assure me that the Minister will be able to answer the very basic questions that my constituents are asking?

“The payments started landing last week, and people who did not expect to get them are getting them, while people who are obviously entitled to them are not. I am being inundated with questions, with people asking me whether that money will be clawed back. They will want answers to those questions. They should have had them by now, but will they at least get them next Tuesday?”