Government points Traveller site residents to Crisis and Resilience Fund for energy support

Exclusive: Gypsy and Traveller families on council‑run sites - many facing high electricity costs and unable to choose their supplier and who are not covered by the recent Government energy support schemes -  have been told they can apply for help through the Government’s £1bn Crisis and Resilience Fund.

The Government has confirmed that Gypsy and Traveller households on council‑run sites - who are often locked into expensive non‑domestic energy contracts - can seek support through the £1 billion Crisis and Resilience Fund, administered by local councils.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) issued the guidance in response to Travellers Times enquiries about whether upcoming energy support schemes would apply to residents with their electricity supplied by their local council.

To understand how this affects families on the ground, Travellers Times spoke to Mary*, a resident of a Traveller site and a carer for her disabled husband, whose electricity is supplied by her council. She asked us to conceal her name because she is frightened of repercussions from her local authority - which is also her landlord - if she is seen to speak out.

Mary has campaigned for her site, and her own plot, to be allowed to switch to a domestic electricity supplier rather than the council’s system for "years". She is not surprised that she will probably not be eligible for the Warmer Homes grant or a VAT reduction because, as she explains, residents like her always lose out on “these kind of things”.

“It’s not just government support that we lose out on,” Mary explains, adding that it’s vouchers for energy support from charities as well.

“A charity that supports people with mobility problems with their energy costs had to turn me down because I didn’t have a direct contract with a domestic supplier,” says Mary.

Mary did manage to get some winter energy support from her council a couple of years ago - she can’t remember which specific grant it was - but the online form was complicated and hard to fill in, and you had to create an account.

Mary will try to access the Crisis and Resilience Fund through her local council and is reasonably online‑literate now - she is pretty much self‑taught over the years through necessity  but she worries about other residents on her site, especially elderly and vulnerable people, who are not.

“A lot of my neighbours just cant use online forms to apply for grants.

“It’s not just the costs of having to use council electricity and buy bottled gas, it’s other things as well. It’s not being able to deal with people directly; not being able to use direct billing as proof of adress; it’s not being able to plan your bills properly, and it’s about not being able to teach our children about these sort of things for when they move on.”

Travellers’ Times asked Mary the one thing she would ask the Government to do to solve the problems faced by residents with council‑supplied electricity.

“We want to be able to choose our own supply from a domestic enenergy company like everyone else,” she says. “That’s what would solve it overnight. The Government should force the councils to give us a choice between them and domestic energy suppliers. It’s as simple as that.”

A Government spokesperson did not directly answer questions about whether the planned VAT cut on energy bills or the Warm Home Discount will extend to residents on council‑supplied electricity but pointed instead to the Crisis and Resilience Fund as the route for immediate help. The fund is designed to support all low‑income households facing financial crisis - including those on non‑domestic energy contracts who have been excluded from previous energy support schemes.

The spokesperson said that the Government were committed to supporting households in need of support and added that the fund “provides a safety net for people on low incomes who are in crisis and in need of immediate financial support." The scheme forms part of a wider £1 billion package announced in the Spending Review, including £842 million allocated for England, they said.

Why this matters for Traveller families

Many Gypsy and Traveller households living on council‑run sites face some of the highest electricity costs in the UK. Because their supply is routed through the local authority rather than a domestic energy provider, residents cannot choose their own supplier, switch tariffs, or access standard consumer protections. In some cases, families are charged commercial rates, leaving them paying far more than a typical household for the same amount of electricity. The Travellers Times has previously reported on this as a “national scandal” and this has also been confirmed from research, conducted in the south east of England by the charity Friends, Families and Travellers, which shows that:

• 97% of council‑run sites have no access to mains gas
• 32% of councils hold the electricity contract and resell electricity to residents
• 82% of sites use prepayment meters
• Families can pay up to £589/month for gas bottles

This arrangement has also meant that Traveller site residents have repeatedly fallen through the gaps of energy support schemes. The Crisis and Resilience Fund is one of the few routes currently available that explicitly – according to the Government spokesperson - covers people on non‑domestic contracts, a category that includes thousands of families on local authority sites.

What support is available?

The Crisis and Resilience Fund is designed to help people who are:

• on low incomes
• facing immediate financial hardship
• unable to meet essential costs such as energy
• on non‑domestic energy contracts or otherwise excluded from mainstream support

Support is delivered through local councils, who assess applications and provide financial help based on need. This may include emergency payments to help with electricity costs, especially where bills have become unaffordable.

Families or advocates can contact their local council’s welfare support or crisis support team and ask specifically about the Crisis and Resilience Fund. Councils may also link the fund to Discretionary Housing Payments, depending on local arrangements.

Unanswered questions

Travellers’ Times asked DESNZ whether the upcoming VAT cut on energy bills or the Warm Home Discount would apply to households on council‑supplied electricity. These questions were not addressed directly in the Government’s response.

For now, families who are struggling with electricity costs are encouraged to contact their local council and ask about the Crisis and Resilience Fund.

Elsewhere in the UK, the Welsh Government has introduced a dedicated energy support fund for Gypsy and Traveller families on council‑run sites - acknowledging the high energy costs and fuel poverty faced by many residents and offering targeted help through local councils.

The Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy in Wales, Adam Price, confirmed to GB News that: "The Welsh Government is providing £600,000 in 2026/27 to support Gypsies and Travellers living on sites with their energy costs."

Mike Doherty for Travellers Times

(Photo by Julian Hochgesang on Unsplash)