Deputy’s despair over ‘shortfall’ in fuel bill help
GUERNSEY’S poorest residents should be getting an extra £50 to help with winter fuel bills, not the £3 being offered this year, a campaigning deputy has said.
Lester Queripel has sent written questions to Employment & Social Security about its winter fuel allowance rise, asking how people were expected to make up the shortfall, after he failed to get satisfactory answers in this month’s States meeting.
And it is feared that the discrepancy will continue with a review of the system delayed and more fuel price hikes anticipated.
He said that he still has not received an answer to the question and was extremely disappointed.
‘I’ve asked the question twice and not received an answer, so I really don’t think there’s a great deal of point in asking it again,’ he said.
‘I don’t think there’s anything else I can do now, to be honest.’
Deputy Queripel said that his concern was based on the increases in energy costs that were announced in the summer.
ESS, however, based its increase in the fuel allowance to £29.54 a week on the cost of living figure up to the end of June.
‘ESS were well aware that there’d be a shortfall,’ he said. ‘They could have, and should have in my view, added the appropriate increase to the fuel allowance for this winter to cover the 16% increase in fuel costs.’
Electricity prices went up by 6.8% in July.
In its response, ESS said they based the increase on a figure of 0.4%, which was calculated using weightings for different fuel types.
‘They [recipients] should have received an extra £2 a week and not 12p,’ said Deputy Queripel.
‘So how are they expected to make up the shortfall?’
He was astounded that ESS talked of reviewing the allowance but had not done so yet, particularly since he had raised the issue in previous winters.
‘Deputy Shane Langlois [ESS vice-president] when he answered my question in the chamber, informed me it was an issue the committee had discussed many times and they had every intention of addressing it and coming up with a different system. So why isn’t it a priority?
‘What exactly is stopping them doing that?’
It now seems unlikely that the matter will be addressed this term.
Deputy Queripel said this concerns him greatly as he was led to believe it would be.
‘That means if ESS don’t review if by next June, then recipients of the fuel allowance next winter will once again receive an increase that’s well below what they actually need. So, once again they will have to somehow make up the shortfall.
‘I despair.’
