Since the inception of this vital Cost of Living Support fund from central government (beginning in 2020 as the “COVID Winter Grant Scheme”), all Local Authorities have received funding to deliver additional support to some residents.
We were pleased to hear the announcement in the Spring Budget, that the Chancellor had extended this fund through to 30 September 2024.
Through our partnerships with Halton, Sefton, and Wirral Councils, we will be delivering the following aspects of their Household Support Fund projects:
Halton
We can support low-income, residents who are struggling to pay their energy bills, and who do not use prepay meters. We will assess each case on its own merits, and where applications are successful, we will submit a payment directly to our client’s energy supplier, based on household composition.
Sefton
We can support low-income, residents who are struggling to pay their energy bills, and who do not use prepay meters. We will assess each case on its own merits, and where applications are successful, we will submit a payment directly to our client’s energy supplier, to the equivalent of 1 month’s worth of energy bill payments.
We can also support low-income, vulnerable residents with limited fuel debt relief.
Wirral
We can support low-income, residents who are struggling to pay their energy bills, and who do not use prepay meters. We will assess each case on its own merits, and where applications are successful, we will submit a request to Wirral Council for a payment to be issued directly to our client’s energy supplier, to the equivalent of 3 months’ worth of energy bill payments.
We can also support low-income, vulnerable residents with limited fuel debt relief.
We also deliver an emergency heating repair scheme for low-income, vulnerable Wirral residents. This can cover the costs of a Gas Safe Registered heating engineer visiting a property to repair a central heating system, or individual heaters, such as gas fires.
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To refer yourself to any of the above schemes, please either telephone our Save Energy Advice Line on 0800 043 0151, or email the team at advice@epplus.org, or complete our self-referral webform. Our service is open 9am-5pm, Monday-Friday, aside from Bank Holidays and the working days between Christmas and New Year.
To refer your clients/members/tenants to any of the above schemes, please use the referral forms available on our website, here: www.epplus.org.uk/referrals.