£600 single payment to be rolled out into bank accounts in Northern Ireland from January

The long delayed payments to help with heating and electricity were confirmed on Monday.

Business and Energy Secretary Grant Shapps said: “All households in Northern Ireland will receive a single, one-off £600 payment to help with their bills. Payments will start in January 2023.

"This will be made up of £400 of support under the government’s Energy Bills Support Scheme Northern Ireland (EBSS NI), and £200 of support under the Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP) scheme, which will go to all households in Northern Ireland irrespective of how they heat their home.

“The UK government has confirmed today it will fund electricity companies for this payment to ensure they’re administered quickly, and that suppliers should start to make payments to customers in January.

"This means most NI consumers will receive the full amount of energy bills support before households in Great Britain, whilst still receiving the same level of support this winter.

“All households in Northern Ireland will receive the support in a single payment to ensure the full benefit of the scheme is felt as soon as possible. The Northern Ireland scheme differs in this respect from EBSS in Great Britain to account for the particular nature of the NI energy market.

“Administered by energy suppliers, customers who pay by Direct Debit will receive the £600 into their bank account directly. Other customers will be sent a voucher to redeem the £600 payment, with further details of how they will work and what ID will be required to be set out shortly.”

Today’s announcement comes as the Minister for Energy and Climate writes to Northern Ireland energy suppliers setting out his expectations, which includes 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.

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.”

Sinn Féin MLA Ciara Ferguson said the confirmation on the “overdue” £600 payments “will be a relief to people who are struggling with their bills”.

The Foyle MLA said: “We need immediate clarity on the how vouchers for pay as you go customers will be rolled out.

“Finally people have confirmation from the British Government that they will receive the £600 energy payment from January in a single payment.

“This will be a relief to workers and families who are struggling to heat their homes and keep the lights on as the cold winter begins to bite.

"We need immediate clarity on the how vouchers for pay as you go customers will be rolled out.

“It shouldn’t have taken this long to confirm when people would get help that they are entitled to because it was held up by the DUP’s boycott of the Executive and Tory government delays.”

SDLP Mark H Durkan MLA said that the long delays have made ordinary families casualties of the crisis.

“This support is long overdue and the reality is that these entirely preventable delays have made ordinary families here casualties of this crisis. Despite assurances that this £600 payment will be made in January, confusion remains around how or exactly when it will be issued."

“The latest proposals state that direct debit customers will receive a single payment whereas prepaid meter customers will receive a voucher which can be redeemed through their electricity provider. Considering that households on prepaid meters are likely to be among the poorest, the difference in approach is not only illogical but strips people of dignity.

“Households were promised this support in November, now as we head into Christmas week and the coldest part of the year when people really needed help, they’re being promised that this support will be delivered next year. The patience and confidence of the public has, frankly, been erased by this fiasco.

“The payments need to go through as quickly as possible, SDLP MPs will continue to hold the British Government to account but this is yet another logjam created by the DUP’s siege of Stormont. Politicians need to get to work now to help people through what will be a desperately harsh winter for so many.”