NCVO has been engaging with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and today wrote to the Secretary for State, Grant Shapps MP, about rising energy costs. Critical decisions around the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) are being made imminently and NCVO needs your help to demonstrate why charities cannot be overlooked.

Organisations across the sector facing exponentially rising energy costs have advised that without ongoing government support, they will be forced to significantly reduce services, sell essential community buildings or even close completely. This will have a devastating impact on people and communities and can’t be an option.

Our urgent message to government

We are urgently appealing to the government to ensure voluntary organisations that are most vulnerable to energy price rises get continued support once the EBRS comes to an end. Alongside our sector partners, the NCVO team has taken a number of actions:

• Drafted and co-signed a letter, with the Civil Society Group – a coalition of voluntary infrastructure bodies which represent and support 165,758 charities across the UK – to Grant Shapps MP, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and, Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to highlight the cliff edge that charities are facing
• Met with BEIS officials to outline why charities are particularly vulnerable to energy price rises and to make the case for their continued inclusion in the support that replaces the EBRS
• The Civil Society Group has made a submission to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to inform the Treasury’s review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme
• The NCVO media team has contacted press and is encouraging charities to make use of local and national media contacts to outline the situation.

Join us in taking action

We are doing all we can to highlight this issue at national level, but front line and local stories will add further pressure. There are two things you can do:

• Highlight the real-life stories about the impact on communities to constituency MPs. We have drafted a letter for members to download and use as a framework to write your local MP. Tell them about the impact on your organisation and what it would mean for local people if your services were reduced or stopped all together.
• Tell your story to the media to further raise awareness of the issues. Contact our media team.

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