While we welcome the extra fuel allowance offered by the Department of Communities it falls far short of what is required according to Gemma Weir, Workers’ Party Castle DEA.

“The scheme provides a one off payment of up to £100 worth of Gas, electricity or oil to approximately 20,000 households across the north and while we welcome the extra help for people in reality it is merely crumbs off the table and will in no way seriously tackle the growing number of workers who are living in fuel and energy poverty.”

“The criteria states anyone applying must have a household income of less than £23,000 which is a fairly low threshold. In addition to this you must also either have run out of electricity/gas/oil should you be on pay as you go, have less than 3-5 days worth of energy/fuel left or have received a bill that you are unable to pay providing all sorts of evidence in your application. So basically you have the right to heat or power your home provided you don’t mind a little investigation and humiliation.”

“The majority of peoples electricity bills have skyrocketed in the past few months between price hikes and working from home. This scheme is not addressing the real issue, it’s simply just an attempt to plaster over a bigger problem and make the Executive look good. Energy companies are making huge profits while our workers are unable to afford to heat or power their homes and feed their families. In reality this scheme is an insult to workers and our workers deserve better. The only solution is to nationalise the energy and fuel companies.”

You can apply for the fuel allowance scheme here 👉🏻 https://www.brysongroup.org/news/emergency-fuel-payment-scheme