Community heating bills in Barnsley described as “outrageous”

Lib Dem Councillor for the Dodworth Ward, coun Peter Fielding, read a letter from a resident of the Rose Tree Estate in Cudworth at last week’s full council meeting.

The letter, from an elderly resident, alleges that the “horrific” cost of heating has left them with the choice to heat their homes or buy food.

The letter said: ” Our communal heating bills are £1,100 per year. It is outrageous. We are all elderly residents and are tied to communal heating.

“I would have thought it would be cheaper for the elderly but that’s not the case. I thought your councils looked after the elderly. We personally have our heating on for 7-8 hours a day. We turn it off for a couple of hours in the afternoon and go to bed to keep warm.

“I speak for all my neighbours and I humbly hope you can help us.”

Community heating was introduced by the government as a way to keep heating bills low.

Instead of having a boiler in each home, community heating networks send heat and hot water to lots of properties through underground pipes from one communal heat source.

Fuel Poverty Action say customers of these schemes “cannot switch [suppliers], nor is there any price cap or, as yet, any regulation.”

The government has set a target of 20 per cent of heat to come from district heating by 2050, to reduce carbon.

Coun Fielding said he has fought for the 51 tenants on the Polyfox Estate in Dodworth to get the charges for their heating reduced.

He added: “The tenants who asked me for help feel that they are being overcharged by Barnsley Council for their heating supplied through a district heating scheme which they are tied to and cannot switch their energy supplier to seek a better deal.

“After months of frustration, except for the improved insulation provided by Berneslai Homes, I raised the matter at full council in February but was given no indication by the ruling Labour Council that they had any intention of tackling this problem which exists in 1200 properties across Barnsley even though many other councillors said they were aware of similar problems in their wards.

“The solution is in the council’s hands and they could simply reduce charges to a fair level but they are choosing not to. I will not give up fighting for these residents until the council do the right thing and charge a fair price to these vulnerable residents.

A Barnsley Council spokesperson said: “Over the past three years, Berneslai Homes has invested almost £14 million installing 4,600 new high efficiency gas boilers, and more than 4,000 homes have been improved through delivery of the Berneslai Homes Standard programme.

T”here are a number of district heating schemes in Barnsley, where a communal boiler or heat pump provides heat to multiple flats or homes. In these cases, tenants don’t have their own boiler, and they pay for ‘heat’ rather than paying directly for the fuel.

“We can confirm that district and community heating schemes are being reviewed and discussions between Barnsley Council and Berneslai Homes are already ongoing.

“Residents in district heating schemes do not just pay for heat like with a normal utility bill. The charges also include scheme maintenance and management costs, and this means like-for-like comparisons with gas boilers are not easy.

“The costs relating to the provision of community and district heating schemes are recorded within a separate ‘housing revenue account’ meaning it isn’t possible to use general council tax to subsidise those costs.”