The UK Government recently announced that it is working with stakeholder groups and representative bodies, including park home associations, to update them on progress of the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding (EBSS AF) application portal which is expected to open by February 27, 2023.
This will ensure those eligible are made fully aware of the payment and encouraged to apply. The one-off, non-repayable lump sum will be delivered by local authorities in Scotland, England and Wales and aims to provide financial support to around 900,000 households without a direct relationship with a domestic electricity supplier.
However, it has come to light that not all park home residents will qualify for the money. The £400 is aimed at supporting households that do not have a direct relationship with a domestic electricity supplier, however, the UK Government has said that in cases where a park home site manager has a domestic energy contract, they will already be receiving the Energy Bills Support Scheme automatically, and benefits should be passed on to residents.
The UK Government said: “Third-party intermediaries, such as landlords, who receive the Energy Bills Support Scheme must pass that support through to end users, such as tenants, in a just and reasonable way.
“The Government has introduced regulations to require that EBSS support is provided to the people it is designed to help.”
You can find out more about the ‘pass-through Requirements on Intermediaries’ on GOV.UK here.
The £400 application portal had been expected to open by the end of January, but Energy and Climate Minister Graham Stuart MP recently confirmed that it is now anticipated to open “on or before 27th February”.
He explained: “Based on feedback from the pilot scheme, the Government has taken the decision to extend the pilot phase to ensure that it makes the scheme as robust and effective as possible, and that this is reflected in our guidance to local authorities.”
Earlier this week, he also said: ‘The UK Government is finalising several elements of the scheme that are critical to delivery. There are significant complexities in delivering a novel scheme with a wide variety of eligible groups with different energy arrangements.
“The Government must ensure consumers are protected; public money is well spent with robust verification and anti-fraud checks; and that local authorities are prepared to deliver support to eligible households.”
We will update this article and the Daily Record Money Saving Scotland Facebook group as soon as more details about the £400 application portal are made available.
Who can claim the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding?
Online applications are scheduled to open on February 27 for households in Scotland, England and Wales who are eligible for the £400 one-off payment to submit their details.
Payments to households that meet the eligibility criteria - including people who get their energy through a commercial contract or who are off-grid - will be made by local authorities in Great Britain.
The UK Government said this is likely to include:
- care home residents
- park home residents
- tenants in certain private and social rented homes
- homes supplied via private wires
- residents of caravans and houseboats on registered sites
- farmers living in domestic farmhouses
- off-grid households
Once households have applied to receive support and their applications have been processed and verified, eligible applicants' details will be shared with local authorities who will deliver the one-off, non-repayable support "this winter".
Applicants will only be able to submit information through the GOV.UK portal when it opens this month and should not contact their local authority directly as they will not be able to offer any more information.
The UK Government also said that the exact date that an eligible household will receive support will depend on when the application is made and when the payment can be processed by the relevant local authority.
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