Liveaboard boaters, both with and without a home mooring, are invited to a meeting with Danny Kruger, the MP for Devizes, tomorrow Friday 16th June 2023 at 3pm at Caen Hill Marina to continue to lobby for liveaboard boaters to be included in the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS). The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald will attend from 4pm; BBC Radio Wiltshire is also interested in covering the exclusion of liveaboard boaters from the EBSS. The meeting has been organised by Devizes Food Bank.
Please come to the meeting, especially if you wish to speak to the MP or be interviewed by the local press about being excluded from this vital support that the Government claimed would be paid to “every household”.
Mr Kruger has been sent a number of questions to answer about how the Government plans to enable liveaboard boaters who do not have a permanent residential address to access the grant.
Local boaters and a representative of Devizes Food Bank met with Mr Kruger back in February as part of a general discussion started by the food bank about the Cost of Living Crisis, as part of the food bank’s anti-poverty campaigning. Alex Montegriffo, on behalf of Devizes Food Bank, said “I am very keen to make the most of this opportunity to raise awareness and challenge the Government on their decision to exclude boaters”.
Questions that will be raised with Mr Kruger include:
- Why liveaboard boaters have been excluded from the EBSS, causing significant distress and financial worry – this was never made clear to the boaters at Caen Hill Marina.
- Now that EBSS applications have closed, what should boaters who have not received the £400 do, and does the Government have any plans to provide further support with significantly rising costs? The exclusion of boaters without a home mooring was constantly ‘under review’, for example.
- The EBSS scheme or similar needs to be re-opened for all excluded boaters so that they can get their £400, and future support such as the Warm Home Discount won’t exclude boaters again.
- The issue of rising licence and mooring fees.
Tags: Caen Hill Marina, continuous cruising, cost of living, Danny Kruger MP, Devizes and District Food Bank, Energy Bills Support Scheme, fuel costs, heating, liveaboards, meeting, welfare