People Before Profit Cllr Shaun Harkin said,
“We’re extremely frustrated there’s a further delay to the roll-out of the Council Emergency Hardship Fund. We know how many households are struggling in Derry and across the District.
“Council Officers have been searching for a Fuel Payment Partner to administer the scheme as legally required and will now launch another round of invitations.
“We proposed the Council Hardship Fund in the first place because of criminal negligence by Westminster and Stormont when it came to supporting people amid a spiralling cost of living crisis.
“In December last year, when the Assembly was functioning, demands for Stormont to declare a Hardship Emergency and initiate urgent cost of living actions were ignored by the Executive.
“This situation hasn’t changed. Stormont inaction has only gotten worse.
“For all the shouting the DUP do about a Protocol border down the Irish Sea they aren’t making any fuss about Tory failure to see the £400 Energy Payment Support Scheme rolled-out here, as it already has been across the water.
“The DUP’s Stormont veto is a message to all of us that they don’t care about hardship facing people in all communities here.
“Before Covid, 30% of households in Derry and District were struggling below the poverty line. Government inaction and inflation driven by corporate profiteering has made this worse.
“The Council can’t sit on its hands while there is criminal failure by Westminster and Stormont to help people avoid falling into destitution.
“We’ll continue to do all we can to see the Council hardship fund opened and to push for further cost of living action by central government.”
