Haslingden and Hyndburn residents are deeply concerned about the lack of access to the £400 winter fuel payment.

13 December 2022

Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt,
HM TREASURY
1 Horse Guards Road
London SW1A 2HQ

Dear Jeremy,

Haslingden and Hyndburn residents are deeply concerned about the lack of access to the £400 winter fuel payment.

In a letter to MPs on 25th November 2023,  the Government said that the £400 payment will now be delivered next year.

There are 900 000 households in the UK that don’t have a domestic energy supply and are off-grid or reside in park homes such as those at Quarry Rock Gardens in Bath many in Hyndburn and Haslingden including park home sites at Mill Lane, Great Harwood; Hall Park, Haslingden; and Whinney Hall Road site at Huncoat.

Residents on all these sites have raised these issues with me –and with their local councillors who are as frustrated as I am.

Energy and Climate Minister Graham Stuart has announced that a £400 payment will be delivered through an online application and processed by local authorities.
The scheme will open to households across the country in January 2023.

There will also be a £200 payment for households that use fuels such as heating oil or liquefied petroleum gas for heating but this will also not be delivered until January at the earliest.

These households are facing a cost of living crisis like other households with built homes. They are facing the same cold snap this week.

Your government made promises –promises that have been broken to static homeowners regarding timely help.

People are having to make tough choices now. Off-grid households and people living in park homes need support with their energy bills now. It beggars belief that it has taken the Government months to realise that they would have to work with local authorities to make this happen only then push support back to next year.

The Conservative Government seems incapable of understanding the issues people face.

The government now acts to ensure local authorities who are to be responsible for payments act swiftly – days – to ensure payments are made swiftly.
I look forward to your response on behalf of left-behind static home owners.

Kind regards,

Graham Jones
Former Member of Parliament for Haslingden and Hyndburn