Derry and Strabane council approves heating hardship fund

Derry and Strabane District Council has approved a hardship fund for people struggling to pay home heating bills.

It had previously been delayed over issues finding a company to administer the scheme and issue payments.

It is understood the £258,000 fund will be issued in a one-off payment of up to £100 directly to energy providers.

The fund will be available to oil and electricity customers in the council area but not gas customers, Aontú councillor Emmet Doyle has said.

He said he was disappointed that gas customers would not be able to avail of the fund.

He said "every possible way" had been considered but the council eventually "got to the stage where they had to make a decision to move forward without including gas customers".

"[Gas supplier] Firmus Energy have told us they can't process the payments in the way in which we would like," he told BBC Radio Foyle.

"What we were basically asking them to do is the same thing we are asking electricity companies to do, which is basically saying: 'Here is the money, process the payment and give us a code.'"

The scheme was set to open this week, with further details to be announced in the coming days, he added.

A UK-wide scheme to help people with their energy bills has still not been delivered in Northern Ireland.

'Stand ready'

Firmus Energy said they were "surprised and disappointed" that the council had decided not to include gas customers in their fuel hardship payment scheme.

"Firmus would welcome the opportunity to support the council on this scheme and has been working with this scheme's administrators on other funds to ensure payments are provided to those that qualify," the company said.

"There are well-proven processes in place to ensure payment vouchers are distributed effectively and we are more than willing to facilitate this council scheme. We stand ready in whatever way that we can."

The council scheme is designed for emergency situations when a householder is not able to pay fuel bills or buy a top-up.

It is run on a referral basis - referrals can be made by any local support organisation, school, church or charity.

People can also refer themselves using an application form that will be available on the council's website when the scheme opens.

A household can only receive one payment through the fund.

The eligibility criteria includes:

• the household earns a total income of less than £40,000

• a member of the household is entitled to free school meals

• the household is in debt with an energy provider

• there is a "vulnerable person" in the household

• a member of the household has recently become unemployed

• a member of the household is on a zero-hours contract

Sinead Quinn from the campaign group Derry Against Fuel Poverty said it was devastated that gas customers in the council area would not be able to benefit.

"We pushed hard for the establishment of this fund which was so important in the absence of an executive," she said.

"Gas heating is the preferred home-heating system in new build social housing developments across Northern Ireland.

"Derry Against Fuel Poverty remains committed to highlighting the struggle for those of us on low incomes, in and out of work, and will keep on fighting, whatever way we can."

Belfast scheme

Belfast City Council's strategic resources committee had previously agreed to set up a fuel poverty hardship fund of £500,000 for households most in need in Belfast.

It later agreed to increase the amount of money available to £1m, using unspent money from other council services if required.

It said the scheme should, if possible, be implemented before Christmas.

Those proposals are to go before the full council for approval on Thursday evening.