Belfast City Council: Fuel hardship fund £60k cap criticised

A fuel poverty hardship fund organised by Belfast City Council has been criticised for allowing households earning up to £60,000 to apply.

Under the plans eligible households can apply for a £100 voucher towards their fuel bill.

Green Party leader, Cllr Mal O'Hara, said the cap failed to target the most vulnerable households in the city.

Belfast City Council said the scheme will help people living in fuel poverty.

The council said the rollout of the scheme, which will cover gas, electricity or oil, will begin as soon as possible.

"It is hoped some households will receive their vouchers before Christmas," a statement said.

Mr O'Hara criticised the cap and said the £60,000 threshold meant MLAs could apply for the scheme.

"A sole MLA living in a household, because of the £60,000 cap that Sinn Féin and the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) have put forward, means that an MLA could apply for this money and get it under the criteria - which is ridiculous," he told BBC Radio Ulster's The Nolan Show.

'Limited fund'

He added: "It is a limited fund which can only support a certain number of households in the city and what we need to do is make sure it is appropriately targeted to the most vulnerable in the city."

At a full meeting of Belfast City Council on Thursday votes from Sinn Féin and the DUP pushed through the plan including the £60,000 cap.

An amendment to reduce the cap was voted down by Sinn Féin and the DUP

At the meeting it was also agreed that the hardship fund would be doubled from £500,000 to £1m.

But councillors from Alliance, the Social Democratic Labour Party (SDLP), the Green Party, People Before Profit and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) voted in favour of a smaller eligibility threshold.

The amendment from Green Councillor Anthony Flynn at the meeting to limit the threshold to £43,400 was voted down by Sinn Féin and the DUP.

At the meeting, Sinn Féin Councillor Ryan Murphy told the chamber: "The concern we had was that with a £40,000 income, there are households out there with two working parents who could be earning anything in the region of £22,000 to £23,000 each, and still struggling with kids in the house."

Mr O'Hara told The Nolan Show that figure was based on minimum income standards for a household with two children provided by the Office for National Statistics and The Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Derry and Strabane District Council have recently approved a similar scheme for people struggling to pay home heating bills.

The eligibility cap for that scheme is £40,000.

The DUP Group leader at Belfast City Council, Alderman George Dorrian, said the party's priority was to support those most at need.

"We are particularly concerned that there are working families who are crippled by childcare and housing costs and often are living in fuel poverty but miss out on short-term supports," he said.

"We had the opportunity for this to be addressed on this occasion."