Disappointment at fuel help ‘letdown’

A £53m fund to help vulnerable households with surging prices for domestic heating oil and LPG has been described by local MP David Mundell as a ‘huge letdown’.

Many local homes across Dumfriesshire, especially in rural and more remote areas, are not connected to the main gas network and use heating oil and LPG as their principal source of domestic energy.

With huge hikes in the price of heating oil and LPG, the MP had urged the Government to step in and take action to support off-grid households struggling to meet these rising costs. Ministers have responded by announcing a £53m fund, which will be targeted on the most vulnerable households, but councils will decide who qualifies and how the money is distributed.

Mr Mundell said: “While in the circumstances any support is welcome, the reality is that a £53m fund for the whole of the United Kingdom just won’t touch the sides of what is a wide-scale problem across rural communities. It’s a huge let-down for those who live in off-grid properties who had been hoping for more decisive action.

“There are somewhere in the region of 1.5m off-grid households across the country which rely on heating oil, LPG or an energy source other than gas, all of which are now facing huge spikes in their fuel bills in what is a largely unregulated market.

“The fact is that the budget committed by the Government will leave most of those households out in the cold, with no additional support whatsoever.

“Last week, I raised concerns about the cost of heating oil and liquefied petroleum gas directly with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Financial Secretary. I also, along with colleagues, asked that the Competition and Markets Authority to launch an urgent investigation into the heating oil market, which is now under review.

“With prices for heating oil having increased by 200% in some circumstances, it’s clear that the Government’s response does not yet address the scale of challenge to household budgets across rural Dumfriesshire and I will continue to press the government on this to try and get the action that’s needed.”