Hundreds of West Suffolk residents eligible for new government energy bills support

Hundreds of West Suffolk residents, who have previously missed out on £400 of Government support towards their energy bills, can now claim the money.

Under the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBBS), the majority of households have already been receiving payments through their electricity supplier, these six instalments total £400 paid from October 2022 to March 2023.

The Government has now launched the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding (EBSS Alternative Funding).

Residents who don’t directly pay their energy supplier have not been able to get the same support because they either pay for energy through a landlord, housing manager or site owner, or they live in a park home, houseboat or off the electricity grid.

Those identified by the Government as likely to be eligible for EBSS Alternative Funding include residents living in: temporary or supported accommodation, residential park homes, care homes, caravans or mobile homes or in a home that has a heat network communal or district heating.

Also included are: some tenants of private and social rented homes, homes on a private electricity supply, farmers living in domestic farmhouses, on a boat, and other off-grid households.

West Suffolk Council was one of four councils nationally to help pilot the scheme over the past three and a half weeks and was the first council in the UK to go live and put through applications for payment.

Cllr Sarah Broughton, West Suffolk Council’s cabinet member for resources and property, said: “This Government funded scheme is about getting money out to support households, including vulnerable residents, who don’t directly pay their energy supplier and so haven’t received the other funding support.

“We were pleased to have been one of just four councils selected to pilot this scheme for the Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and to have been the very first in the country to put through applications to receive these payments.

“While we are doing what we can to identify and write to people to encourage them to apply, residents shouldn’t wait.

"If they think they are eligible, or know someone else in West Suffolk who may be, they can visit the Government webpage which has more information including how to apply.”