When I speak to people across our constituency, one of the issues that comes up again and again is the rising cost of heating their homes. Our rural community feels this especially hard, with nearly a quarter of households not connected to the national gas grid and many relying on heating oil to stay warm.
The recent conflict in the Middle East involving Iran has sent energy prices soaring. Around 20% of the world’s oil and liquid natural gas passes through affected waterways, so it is no surprise that households here are already feeling the impact. For those dependent on heating oil, which is the case for around 25,000 homes across Lincolnshire, these increases are a strain on budgets. Unlike mains gas or electricity, heating oil users are not protected by the energy price cap, and this leaves many vulnerable to sharp rises in costs. So heating oil users pay a 5% VAT charge with none of the price cap protections that main gas and electricity customers enjoy. Rural households are effectively paying the same tax on their heating while receiving less protection from the state.
I know how worrying this can be and how many have expressed the concern of unfair practices from private heating oil providers. Just as elsewhere, residents in our area have shared their experience with me of these providers cancelling pre-arranged deliveries, only to phone back later that day to offer the same oil at a higher price. That is why I wrote to the Competition and Markets Authority calling for an urgent investigation into the heating oil supply market, and I am glad they are now taking action. The goal is simple: to ensure that households are not being unfairly charged and that there is transparency in pricing.
We also need to remember that this is not the first time we have faced unprecedented challenges. During the energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the last Government which I was a part of introduced measures to support households. While the Energy Price Guarantee protected those on the gas grid, we recognised that heating oil users needed equivalent support. That is why we introduced the Alternative Fuel Payment, worth £200 per household, on top of the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme delivering £600 of direct support to off-grid homes. Even if you divided the current Government’s £53m package across the roughly 1.5m homes that rely on heating oil, it would amount to only £35 per household. In reality, the package is targeted but either way it falls well short of the scale of support previously provided and I will be raising this directly with Ministers.
Whether current events in the Middle East or the war in Ukraine, our experience shows that affordable energy and security of supply go hand in hand. Yet this current Government is choosing to limit the strategic supplies of oil and gas in the North Sea at precisely the moment when global events are reminding us why domestic production matters. Every barrel we produce at home is a barrel we do not have to import through contested waterways. The Government must reverse course, back our domestic energy industry, and recognise that energy abundance is not a luxury, it is the foundation of national security and lower bills for families.
Looking ahead, I will continue to put pressure on the Government and the CMA to protect heating oil users. I welcome the announcement that Lincolnshire will receive funding through the Crisis and Resilience Fund, and I will work to ensure that our rural communities get the support they need to weather these difficult times. If you have experienced unfair pricing, cancelled deliveries, or inflated re-quotes from a heating oil supplier, I want to hear from you, so please get in touch so that I can submit your evidence directly to the CMA’s investigation.
