Shropshire MP slams government over off-grid energy support payment delays
A Shropshire MP has hit out at the Government 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.
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).
People without a domestic electricity supply contract, which includes families living in park homes and houseboats, will not receive any help with their winter fuel bills until the spring.
More than 30,000 other families 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.”
Energy Minister Graham Stuart MP said in his House of Commons reply: "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.”
