The cost of fuel and electricity has risen enormously over the last few months, and is widely expected to rise still more. Non-domestic users don’t even have the small comfort of the unit price cap that has been set for households. We want to help you get through this difficult period, while also making sure the Government is well aware of the potential impact on England’s community facilities.
Here are some things you can do, followed by what we’re doing:
Reduce your usage
The Centre for Sustainable Energy has a range of freely downloadable resources, available via this link, including a self-audit checklist to help you identify energy saving measures. Some of these will need planning and funding, but others will be low-cost and easy to achieve.
To help with this, we’re part of a project funded by a ‘Together For Our Planet’ grant from the National Lottery. The aim is to help organisations that aren’t focused on addressing climate change to reduce their impact on the planet – which will, of course, also reduce your energy bills!
Click this link for the Together For Our Planet Partnership.
Get the cheapest rates
As with domestic bills, it can pay to shop around. Also, some organisations use an energy broker to do the hard work for them and get access to bulk-buy discounts – you can find a list of energy brokers via this link.
Our national partner charity, Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE), is running a survey to get a better picture of the national situation for rural community halls, in partnership with energy brokers Utility Aid. Click this link to see ACRE’s website for a news item on rising energy prices or click this link to go directly to the survey – it was due to close on 19 Aug but has now been extended to the end of September. We’ve been told some more responses from Hampshire organisations would be welcomed…
Check you’re on the right VAT rate
If your electricity and / or fuel usage is below certain ‘de minimis‘ levels (defined: too trivial or minor to merit consideration, especially in law) then you’re eligible to pay just 5% VAT on your bills, rather than the standard 20% rate that businesses pay. Your supplier should apply the correct rate automatically but it’s worth checking.
Charities also qualify for the 5% VAT rate if at least 60% of their usage is ‘otherwise than in the course or furtherance of a business’. Sadly, hiring rooms / space for payment doesn’t qualify as non-business. But if a fair amount of your usage can be classed as ‘non-business’ then it might now be worth doing the calculation so the 5% VAT rate can be applied to that amount, given the horrendous cost of electricity and fuel at the moment.
Please see Village Hall Information Sheet 26 for full details, including the ‘de minimis’ levels for qualifying for the 5% VAT rate. You can download the VHIS by clicking this link, or click this link and scroll down to ‘Information and resources’ for a full list of booklets on supporting community buildings.
Campaign!
We can also make some noise about the impact that energy costs are having on our organisations, and the risk to our vital community facilities. Tell your MP and local councillors about the help you need to get through the coming months. It’s worth noting that the Government has recently awarded funding to several pilot programmes aimed at reducing loneliness through transport schemes to help people access services and activities – the Tackling Loneliness With Transport fund, available via this link. This will have much less impact if there are widespread closures of community facilities due to unaffordable energy bills.
We have three main requests:
- For utility companies to bring in a special tariff for charities
- 5% VAT (or even 0%) on all utility supplies to premises run by a charity
- More national funding for community halls (please note your interest in the Platinum Jubilee Fund, available via this link, if you haven’t already)
We would also appreciate hearing from you – please email Kevin Sawers using this link or call 01962 857358 to tell us:
- How much your energy bills are increasing by
- What this is forcing you to do with your hire charges
- How this is affecting your hirers and, if many people stop using your building, your own organisation’s long-term sustainability
For further reading, click this link for an article on soaring energy prices from charity sector media body Civil Society.
