It would be fair to say that North Norfolk is quite rural and those of us who are lucky enough to live there are proud of that and enjoy the beauty and tranquillity that it affords us. However, in the decades I’ve lived there, and all the time I’ve been campaigning and working for the people of North Norfolk, I’ve seen too many ways in which we seem to be punished or penalised for our rurality.
For instance, much of the North Sea gas which is used across the country will pass through the North Norfolk countryside, deep underground and at high pressure. The Bacton Gas Terminal, one of my constituency’s largest employers, is where vast amounts of gas is onshored, and then sent out around the country. However, despite us being the custodians of that vital resource, around half my constituency is not connected to the gas grid. Of those, more than half rely upon heating oil or LPG to heat their homes and provide hot water.
Running your home on heating oil means you’re buying energy in advance, in bulk, irregularly throughout the year. Households know that even half-filling an oil tank will cost hundreds of pounds – they expect and budget for it. However, since the outbreak of Donald Trump’s war in Iran they have seen the price of heating oil skyrocket, far beyond the changes in the price of crude oil, and this has been severely worrying for my constituents.
It’s far beyond the gradual increases we see in usual inflationary pressures – this was a near-overnight shock that saw people having to scramble to find hundreds of pounds more in already stretched household budgets. The heating oil market has been left as a wild west for far too long, without any strong regulations or protections to keep my constituents safe from unaffordable price spikes. While we rightly discuss a great deal about the rises in the cost of energy, many will look on enviously at the energy price cap for at least giving a strong ceiling to what will be paid – for them, there are no guarantees of where the price rises will stop.
We finally have to say enough is enough and heating oil customers need to stop being seen as an afterthought in energy policy. It’s time to properly reform how we support these people, so that never again are they forced to find vast sums of money to keep the heating on, because of global events totally out of their control. The government announced £53m to support rural communities during this crisis and while money is always welcome, I wonder how they thought this was an adequate amount for millions of people? Within days of the crisis, Liberal Democrat North Norfolk District Council allocated £50,000 to support households who have been plunged into fuel poverty due to these rising costs. They stepped up while the government were still trying to cobble together their sums for support – and this is hugely welcomed by my constituents.
Looking to the future, we must establish a cap on the cost of heating oil. The two-tier system of price protection for those using gas and electricity compared to my constituents on heating oil is wrong and has gone unchecked for too long. We saw many prices surge well beyond the actual cost of oil on the global market, and a real risk that unfair margins were being made. I also hope that the investigation of the CMA will allow the Government to bring forward a better set of regulations for the industry. Ensuring everyone is held to the same high standards is good for the industry and good for consumers. Those relying on LPG often feel ignored in this conversation, and it is vital that we address their struggles too – they are hit just as hard by price spikes and need protection too.
Beyond this, we need to make our homes cheaper to heat. It’s time for an emergency programme of upgrades to make our homes fit for the future – well insulated, energy efficient and with renewable alternatives where possible. This will prepare us for whatever volatile fossil fuel markets may do down the line, reducing the exposure of my constituents to the latest late-night proclamation of President Trump.
Residents in North Norfolk should not be poorer because they live in a rural area. We face unique challenges, we accept that, but we should not be punished for them. Where necessary, the government has a responsibility to step up and help and that’s what I’m calling on them to do. If we were in power, Liberal Democrats would be stepping up for rural Britain. The Government must do so too.
