Councils working on policy for heating oil support
Nathan Briant,South of England and
Ellie Tutt,BBC Radio Berkshire
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A decision by councils in Berkshire on how to distribute financial support for people reliant on heating oil will take some time despite government confirming extra aid.
But local authorities must draft policies on how they will distribute their share of the money to the people who need it, before getting council approval.
Stuart McKellar, Bracknell Forest Council’s executive director of resources, said: “As it is a new scheme, the details on how and where the funding will be used is still being determined.”
It is estimated up to 30,000 households across Berkshire use heating oil, with 3.6% of households nationally reliant on the fuel.
Unlike consumers who use gas and electricity for heating and hot water, prices for households using oil are not capped by regulator Ofgem.
Jonathan Pinnock, director at Thatcham-based JPS Fuels, said its prices doubled in a week after the war started in February.
“Obviously, we are a business, we had to pass the costs on,” he said.
“Everyone who ordered before the war kicked off got their fuel at the price that was agreed but for us generally it’s made our lives a lot more difficult.
“At the moment we can’t offer fixed pricing because the oil market is just so volatile.”
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The government’s £1bn Crisis and Resilience Fund was launched on 1 April.
That replaced the temporary Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments.
The government said the Crisis and Resilience Fund will provide a “single, streamlined grant cutting red tape for councils and making it easier for families to access help when they need it”.
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Bracknell Forest, Slough, West Berkshire and Wokingham councils all said they will soon decide how to implement the Crisis and Resilience Fund.
Reading Council said it will not receive additional funding for heating oil. As an overwhelmingly urban area, demand for it is very low.
Nicola Miller, chief executive of Citizens Advice East Berkshire, said: “The key thing is to understand what your energy needs are and to get that advice sooner rather than later.
“Go to your supplier and have that conversation rather than getting into any energy debt.”
