The government this week announced details of how households without a direct relationship to a domestic energy supplier, including many care home residents and those living in park homes, will receive the £400 discount on their fuel bills through the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding (EBSS Alternative Funding).
The government is also providing a further £200 Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP) to help those households who use alternative fuels such as biomass or heating oil to meet energy costs this winter.
Most households eligible for the AFP support will receive payment automatically via their electricity supplier in February, with no need to take any action. Those households who will need to apply for the AFP, for example because they do not have a relationship with an electricity supplier, will be able to do so in February, through a gov.uk online portal.
South Shropshire MP Philip Dunne has welcomed the news: “there are many park home residents in South Shropshire, so I have been raising the concerns of park home residents with Ministers repeatedly, both in private and in the House of Commons, urging the Government to clarify the support available and the mechanism by which it will be received.
“I am pleased that this clarity has now been provided and those who faced being disadvantaged due to their heating arrangements will receive support this winter.”
According to the Minister for Energy and Climate, Graham Stuart, online applications will open in January for those who are eligible for the £400 EBSS Alternative Funding to submit their details, alongside a helpline for those without online access.
Payments to households that meet the eligibility criteria – including people who get their energy through a commercial contract or who are off-grid – will be made by local authorities. This is likely to include:
- care home residents
- residents of park homes
- tenants in certain private and social rented homes
- homes supplied via private wires
- residents of caravans and houseboats on registered sites
- farmers living in domestic farmhouses
- off-grid households