All farm households to receive £600 energy support payment

Up to this point, there was significant confusion regarding the business status of some farms, the specific electricity tariff they were on and, as a consequence, their eligibility for the support measure.

However, according to the UFU, all these matters have now been addressed with the result that all farm households will be eligible for the support monies. The funding will be made available courtesy of the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding Northern Ireland (EBSS AF NI).

UFU deputy president William Irvine commented: “The Union has been inundated with phone calls from members over the past few months, worrying that their household would not receive support automatically from their electricity supplier under the Energy Bills Support Scheme.“The UFU has been working with government to ensure that all farm dwelling houses could be catered for regardless of what electricity tariff they’re on. It’s an extremely positive outcome that farming households will now get the energy support they need after our lobbying efforts. We encourage those members who missed out on support through the initial Energy Bills Support Scheme, to apply for the Alternative Funding scheme when it opens later this month.”Households that are eligible for the EBSS AF NI will need to submit a short online form via the government’s GOV.UK pages. The opening date of the application portal will be announced soon. A pilot phase of the scheme is now open in the following postcode areas to test the digital systems of the application process and the end-to-end user journey; BT74; BT75; BT77; BT78; BT92; BT93 and BT94.

According to a UFU spokesperson, farm households with a separate electricity connection into their dwelling houses had been eligible for the £600 support payment from the get-go. And, in many cases, this money has already been paid out. The confusion arose when the same connection was used for both the farming operation and the dwelling house.