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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Brendan Hughes

Northern Ireland £600 energy support payment to be rolled out 'from January', UK government says

Households in Northern Ireland will receive a £600 energy support payment "starting in January", the UK government has said.

The government said it will fund Northern Ireland electricity companies for these payments, with direct debit customers receiving the £600 automatically into their bank accounts.

Other customers will be sent a voucher to redeem the £600 payment, with further details of how this will work and what identification will be required to be set out "shortly".

Read more: Stormont caretaker ministers spent £435m which accounting officials refused to endorse

There has been continued uncertainty over the payments in Northern Ireland, the first of which was announced in May.

A £400 payment was initially pledged for all UK households to help with rising gas and electricity prices.

An extra £200 payment was announced last month for Northern Ireland households due to the larger proportion of homes in the region using heating oil.

Households in Great Britain have instead had their energy bills cut by £400 over a six-month period, with a reduction of around £66 applied each month from October to March.

The government said the Northern Ireland scheme differs from Great Britain to account for the "particular and complex nature of the NI energy market and the delays caused by the lack of the NI Executive".

In a statement it added: "Recognising the urgent need for this support, NI consumers will benefit from a single, one-off £600 payment, which means that they will receive the full amount before households in Great Britain. Payments will start in January."

Business and Energy Secretary Grant Shapps said: "We want households in Northern Ireland to be able to keep warm this winter and reduce the worry about the consequences of turning up the thermostat. Today’s announcement provides this reassurance, and comes in addition to the Energy Price Guarantee, which has been subsidising NI energy bills since November.

"Northern Ireland energy users will be the first in the UK to receive the complete payment package offered through our Energy Bills Support Scheme. This, combined with our NI Alternative Fuel Payments, means households will receive a total of £600 from next month."

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris said: "I am acutely aware of the uncertainty and frustration that people across Northern Ireland have felt about their energy bill support. Families can start the new year knowing that they will receive the full support from January.

"I am grateful that officials and Ministers and energy suppliers have found a solution, especially given the complexity of NI’s energy market, although I would have liked to have seen Northern Ireland political parties deliver this, as part of a restored Executive."

Stormont has been in limbo for months with the DUP blocking the restoration of power-sharing in protest against Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol.

Graham Stuart, Minister for Energy and Climate, has written to Northern Ireland energy suppliers urging them to suspend all debt recovery and enforcement activity until the end of January, as well as provide payment holidays until the end of January where customers are struggling to pay their bills.

He said the government actions would "add to our existing support, giving people the peace of mind they need to keep their heating on and ward off what has been a biting winter so far".

Mr Stuart added: "We've worked tirelessly to support the people of Northern Ireland with rising energy costs and this is another step in our comprehensive response to shield the public from the impacts of global strains on the energy market."

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