More details are slowly emerging about the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding (EBSS AF) which is due to be paid to some 900,000 households across Great Britain who do not have a direct relationship with their electricity supplier from next month. This includes people who live in park homes, houseboats, off-grid and care homes, or those paying their energy bills as part of an all-inclusive rental agreement with their landlord.
The UK Government had previously announced that the application portal for the one-off, non-repayable lump sum was expected to open this month, but Energy Minister Graham Stuart MP told MPs in the House of Commons on Wednesday that it is now expected to open on February 27, 2023.
Mr Stuart explained how he met with four local authorities involved in a pilot scheme for the portal and said that due to the complex nature of the payment it was essential to get it right first time otherwise payments to hundreds of thousands of households could be delayed.
