Adam Dance

When heating oil prices go up, rural communities across Yeovil really feel the impact, yet as Trevor from Hardington Mandeville and many other constituents pointed out, the Chancellor did little to nothing to support heating oil issues. Heather put it best: “The weather is getting colder and yet again people in rural communities seem to be forgotten.” Many constituents have also written to me about how the biggest impact of heating oil cost rises comes from minimum-value orders. Residents have described having to order 500 litres at a time, which is totally unaffordable. I have also heard from residents in Haselbury Plucknett and North Perrott who are facing fuel poverty yet still do not qualify for Government support. As a result, they are having to dramatically cut usage, but being pushed to use less misses the bigger point. When prices are so high and there is no particular alternative to heating oil, there is only so much people can do before it begins impacting their quality of life, particularly over the winter. Catherine from Chard’s last order cost her just shy of £2,000 for 1,500 litres. Both Catherine and her tenant are retired and would have liked to have kept the heating off and worn jumpers to save money. But Catherine says she cannot do that as her tenant is struggling to recover from a stroke, and she refuses to risk their health to save money on bills. Their property is off grid and upgrades are difficult or impossible without serious work. Too many heating oil users like Catherine are stuck between a rock and a hard place and need Government support. I hope the Government will look to improve targeted support so that struggling constituents in Yeovil are not left out. If the Government really want to give rural communities breathing space, we need a price cap for heating oil. Rural communities simply cannot afford to bear the rising cost of heating oil any longer. It is all well and good having No. 10 North, but what we really need is No. 10 rural.