100 signatures reached
To: The Rt Hon Claire Coutinho MP, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Get vital £600 Energy Bill Support to remaining off-grid households currently excluded
Households who are part of Gypsy, Roma, Traveller and Boater (GRTB) communities have had to wait and fight for energy bill support automatically given to other households, and in some cases have been missed out or even excluded.
Some people living on boats have been waiting for a £600 energy bill support scheme since October 2022. This was promised to ‘all households’ in the UK by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2022, no matter their circumstances, but boat dwellers based at marinas and other non-residential moorings have been excluded.
This support has been made available to all other households, while vulnerable Boaters are left out in the cold, cutting back on food, electricity and heating to survive in their homes. This isn’t right, and this petition calls for remaining boater households to urgently receive this historic energy bill support, and for future support schemes to cover all off-grid households so they aren't left fighting to afford basic living costs.
Why is this important?
Boating households were promised energy bill support back in 2022, as were all other households in the UK. People living on boats urgently need this support to heat their homes, especially those on low incomes or who have a health condition or disability. 27% of boaters on Canal and River Trust waterways have an annual household income below £20,000, compared to 10% of the general population working full-time. Boaters, as with other GRTB communities, also have worse health outcomes than the general population due to difficulties accessing healthcare, and they urgently need the support promised for rising energy costs.
Exclusion from this support is not just pushing Boaters towards hardship, but also eroding their way of life on the waterways, their role in maintaining these waterways, and their contribution to local and national economies. Currently, 6000 boater households are missing out on historical energy bill support. No-one should be told to make themselves homeless because they cannot get support due to living on a boat.
Many households need extra support in the ongoing Cost of Living Crisis, and boater households deserve to be warm as much as any other household.
How it will be delivered
In person to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
