VULNERABLE people are struggling to heat their homes due to the Government’s failure to provide the winter support it promised last year, North Shropshire’s MP has said.

Helen Morgan spoke in the House of Commons on Friday to raise the plight of families living in off-grid homes who are still waiting for help with their energy bills.

While most people have benefited from the energy price cap and the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme, others have not received a penny from the Government to help with spiralling costs.

People without a direct electricity supply who use alternative fuels to heat their homes – such as heating oil, liquid gas and wood – are yet to be given any energy support from the Government despite being promised £200 in Alternative Fuel Payments last autumn.

Others, who were not expecting a £200 payment, have been automatically given the money out of the blue.

Mrs Morgan said: “It’s really not fair that vulnerable people have been forced to go through all of winter without a penny of support from the Government.

“These schemes should have been sorted out months ago but Government chaos has let families down again.

“These mistakes must be rectified ASAP so that people in park homes, houseboats and off-grid homes can get the support they need.

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“As normal, rural areas have been neglected by the Government and it is families across places like North Shropshire who are suffering as a result.”

Many of these people are also yet to receive any help from the Energy Bills Support Scheme which promised £400 to all eligible homes to help with winter fuel.

Most households received this cash automatically via credits on electricity bills but people without an electricity supply – like those in houseboats or park homes – are having to apply online.

Some people who expected to be eligible and are yet to receive any help have been turned down, while other people who did not ask for the money have been given it – a point raised in the House of Commons by Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael.

Liberal Democrats are calling for an extended windfall tax on oil and gas giants, as well as a one-off tax on the “bonanza bonuses” of energy firm executives to help protect families and businesses from the continued high cost of energy.