More than 1,600 people across the county who cannot afford to keep their homes warm have been supported by our team at Community Law Service since the start of 2024, with that number expected to rise to over 2,150 households by March 2026.
At the beginning of 2024, we were awarded £392,000 from the British Gas Energy Trust to fund a two-year project. The funding has enabled us to employ four full-time money and energy advisors who provide specialist support to households struggling with energy costs and living in cold homes.
Our Chief Executive Sarah Hayle explained: “This funding is for people at risk of, or who are in, fuel poverty and is enabling us to help people all across Northamptonshire. So many people are struggling financially, which is why the support we provide goes far beyond just managing energy debt – we take a holistic approach that addresses the root causes of fuel poverty, looking at everything from benefits and housing issues to debt and energy efficiency. The British Gas Energy Trust has been supporting us since 2014, enabling us to assist almost 12,000 Northamptonshire households to date and we are incredibly proud to be in receipt of this life-changing funding.”
Since the project launched, our team has supported over 1,600 people and dealt with £327,000 worth of problems and challenges. These have tended to be wide-ranging – supporting people with benefit problems, resolving billing disputes, delivering energy efficiency advice, and helping with energy debt management which includes negotiating and setting up payment plans, making grant applications to write off debt, and challenging incorrect billing so people’s debts are reduced.
The team has also helped people secure additional income of £7million by identifying welfare benefits they were entitled to but not claiming and assisted in managing over £75,000 of debt.
A key part of our work has also involved adding people to priority services registers. This is a protection scheme so that an energy supplier knows there is someone with vulnerability in the household. To date, we have helped ensure that more than 250 vulnerable people in Northamptonshire have been added to these registers.
Tracey Talbot, Interim CEO of British Gas Energy Trust, said: “We are proud to support Community Law Service in their vital work helping households across Northamptonshire. Their holistic approach to tackling fuel poverty addresses not just the immediate crisis but the underlying causes, helping people to achieve long-term financial stability and live in warm, safe homes.”
This funding builds on a decade-long partnership between us here at Community Law Service and the British Gas Energy Trust. We were one of 38 frontline organisations across England, Scotland and Wales selected for this funding through the British Gas Energy Trust’s SCARP (Supporting Communities at Risk Programme).