Herts County Council and the national scandal of councils supplying electricity to Traveller sites

Damning electrical engineers report highlights the mismanagement of Herts County Council’s ten permanent Traveller sites:

• Herts County Council Gypsy and Traveller Services playing fast and loose with official guidelines for the supply of electricity to Traveller sites.
• Traveller site residents have been given no contracts, regular itemised bills or safety documents regarding their electrical supply.
• The resident’s payment meters do not update in real time leaving residents struggling to monitor their own electrical usage to try to bring bills down.
• Some residents have paid tens of thousands of pounds over the years into ‘smart’ payment meters – with no record given by the council of where the money has gone over that time.
• Residents also pay rent, rent arrears and deposits through the same payment meter that they pay for their electricity with, leading to confusion about what was paid for what.
• Independent engineer’s report also raises alarming potential safety issues.
• Government energy watchdog Ofgem do not regulate councils supplying electricity to Traveller sites meaning that their guidelines are meaningless.
• This is national issue as about 1/3 of the council-run Traveller sites in England are also supplied electricity by their council and are also unregulated by Ofgem.
• Electricity supplied by councils is classed as non-domestic, meaning that Traveller site residents lose out on cost-cutting domestic tariffs and energy price caps.

A damning report by a highly qualified independent electrical engineer – commissioned by the Travellers’ Times – has laid bare the mismanagement of Hertfordshire County Council's system for supplying electricity to its public authority Traveller site residents.

The Electrical engineer Ben Pearson and the Travellers’ Times Editor visited a number of plots and spoke to the residents on two of the Herts County Council’s ten public authority-run Traveller sites earlier this year. The engineer inspected electrical installations, quizzed the residents on their electricity usage and metering and payment systems, and fitted state of the art test meters to monitor electricity usage to compare it to the council supplied meters.

The visit was arranged because the Travellers’ Times has been investigating the high usage of electricity by the Herts Traveller site residents for over a year. The electrician was sourced and paid for by a Traveller Community Interest Company that wishes to remain anonymous.

Because Hertfordshire County Council Gypsy and Traveller Services team - who run the council’s Traveller sites - are also their landlords and seem to operate as a “toxic silo”, divorced from the wider operations of Herts County Council and with little oversight from senior council management, many of the residents were afraid to complain, or allow us to publish their names, because they were frightened of retaliation and eviction.

A spokesperson for Herts County Council said: “Our gypsy and traveller services’ team works closely with other internal departments and external partners. Its aim is to provide an effective landlord service and support residents by working with other agencies and professionals.”

In his subsequent report for the Travellers’ Times, the electrical engineer - an NICEIC Approved Contractor and a Technician Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology – found that:

• The residents of the plots are paying a lot of money for their electricity use but do not have a comprehensive and clear breakdown of usage and payments.
• Hertfordshire County Council should provide the residents with contracts and bills as well as a methodology of how rates are calculated, according to Ofgem guidelines, but this is not happening.
• It appears as though the residents are using less units than indicated on their physical meters, which as a result means they might be being overcharged for their electricity. This may be a difference in the type of monitoring equipment used but certainly warrants further investigation and explanation.
• Regular inspection and testing of their electrical installations does not seem to be being carried out as advised under Regulation 4 of the Electricity at Work Regulations and other sources of good practice. - The residents are unsupported in the use and monitoring of their electrical installations.
• The residents should receive detailed and understandable breakdowns - both from the past and going forward - of how their energy is monitored and charged to them including costs per unit, standing charges and any other charges imposed upon them.
• This, along with their safety certificates will help them make their own decisions, operate their installation safely and efficiently and budget accordingly for their monthly or quarterly bills and they should be offered support going forward in making sense of any billing or metering.
• The payment app, the physical energy meters, and the information sent through from Hertfordshire County Council Gypsy and Traveller Services at times do not correspond and this should be clarified both historically and going forward.
• The residents should be provided with contracts and detailed electricity bills with costs and usage from the beginning of their tenancies.
• The residents should be supported in understanding and making best use of their installations in terms of energy efficiency in order to keep costs low whilst at the same time living comfortably and safely.
• Electrical Installation Certificates & Electrical Installation Condition Reports along with any diagrams, layouts, plans and operations and maintenance manuals should be sent digitally as well as printed and hand delivered so that the tenants have access to the information about the safety and maintenance of their electrical installations.
• Best practice should be followed especially as the residents’ form part of Hertfordshire County Council's vulnerable communities.
• Fire risk assessments should be carried out to determine the best course of action in terms of fire safety keeping in mind The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 as there did not appear to be mains interlinked fire detection nor CO alarms installed.

A caseworker for former local MP Grant Schapps also tried to support the residents for months, following a visit by the MP to one of the sites – but failed to make any substantive changes to how the energy supply system was run by Hertfordshire County Council’s Gypsy and Traveller Services.

The Travellers’ Times can also reveal that this is a national scandal in the making, as unlike most households who have a direct contract with a major energy supplier for their electricity supply, many residents living on council owned Traveller sites are instead supplied electricity by their councils – which means that they are not regulated by the government energy watchdog Ofgem and that their electricity supply is classed as non-domestic instead of domestic, meaning that they miss out on domestic energy tariffs and price caps.

Instead Ofgem give guidelines for park home businesses and other third-party suppliers of electricity to follow – but these guidelines have no legal power, meaning that if public authority Traveller site residents supplied electricity by councils need to complain about their electricity supply – then they can only complain to the council themselves and then the Local Government Ombudsman – or ailing that, take the council to court.

Previous research by the charity Friends, Families and Travellers shows that up to a third of public authority-run Traveller sites are supplied electricity by councils and not direct from a regulated energy supplier. In its report, the charity cites this as one of the reasons that Gypsies and Travellers living on sites face a crisis in “fuel poverty”.

The research also showed that many Gypsies and Travellers living on sites do not have a direct contract with an electricity supplier. The way that some sites are designed and managed means households must buy their electricity from the site owner as a third party and do not have the freedom to choose supplier or shop around for the best rates and tariffs. A large number of Gypsies and Travellers living on sites are also on prepayment meters, meaning many households are paying more per unit of energy and are at greater risk of having their electricity supply cut off.

Gillian Cooper, Director of Energy at Citizens Advice, said: 

“Whether it’s a flat above a pub or a caravan on a council-owned site, people living in properties where the energy supply is managed by a business or another third party are missing out on basic consumer protections.

“They may not benefit from the energy price cap and government support schemes and may not be able to access the Energy Ombudsman if they have a complaint.

“Fixing this unfair protection gap requires complex changes to regulations and legislation and should be a priority for the new government.”

The Travellers’ Times also understands that many age, disability and health charities who give out energy vouchers to vulnerable clients are unable to support clients that do not have a direct contract with an energy supplier – like residents of Traveller sites whose electricity is supplied by councils.

A government spokesperson said:

“Councils are responsible for assessing the needs of Traveller sites in their area and meeting that need in the same way they do for all forms of housing.

“If residents believe a council is not complying with its responsibilities, they can raise an internal complaint and, if it is not resolved, escalate it to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.”

Josie O’Driscoll, CEO of the local Gypsy/Traveller charity GATE Herts said:

“Over the years, GATE Herts has received numerous complaints regarding the exorbitant electricity prices at various sites across Hertfordshire. Collaborating with national Gypsy & Traveller organisations, we endeavoured to spotlight this issue. Together with other Gypsy and Traveller groups, GATE Herts penned a letter to the then-Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng MP, and Minister of State for Business, Energy, and Clean Growth, Greg Hands MP. The letter underscored the impact of high energy costs on Travellers and Romany communities, particularly emphasising the "astronomically high energy costs" associated with living in mobile homes and caravans.”

“Concerns were raised about the potential exclusion of many Romany and Traveller families, who often lack a direct relationship with energy suppliers common on sites, from accessing the Government's £400 grant, among other reasons. We sought reassurance from the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy that steps would be taken to address this disparity in energy costs.”

“Additionally, we have brought complaints to the attention of Herts County Council's Gypsy service regarding issues such as the absence of itemised bills and confusion arising from the collection of various payments from meters. We proposed and discussed a collaborative effort to conduct a feasibility study on alternative cleaner energy sources for sites in Hertfordshire, recognising renewable energy as the most cost-effective option. Residents expressed agreement with exploring solar and wind power.”

“According to a 2013 Gypsy and Traveller Needs Assessment in Leeds, individuals living on sites were found to be paying on average 42% more for energy. It's evident that Gypsies and Travellers residing on Hertfordshire sites may not have received any Government energy crisis support. To mitigate this, we provided some assistance through an energy crisis project.”

“Nonetheless, this situation perpetuates discrimination, offers limited consumer protections, results in disproportionately expensive bills, and provides little choice in accessing cleaner and more affordable energy sources. There is an urgent need for a comprehensive review of energy efficiency schemes available to households not residing in traditional dwellings, identifying gaps in provision.”

“As a small charity, we lacked the resources to conduct necessary independent investigations and thus welcome the Travellers Times investigation into this issue.”

A spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council said:

“We are aware of concerns about high energy bills and where we receive specific details regarding a resident’s electricity charges we will always investigate any discrepancies. For example, we have offered to meet the costs of an independent inspection of the electrical supply where we have received a complaint from a resident. Each year we supply all residents with details of the kWh rate charged in advance and also if there are any changes and we also supply breakdowns on request of electricity use. In the future, we will be able to provide statements and where we have details we will be able to supply these to any resident via e-mail if they wish.

“We are sympathetic to the concerns of residents and if any resident has information relating to their supply by a qualified person we will look into it provided we are given their details. A qualified contractor undertakes periodic fixed wire testing of the electrical equipment on all our sites. If we are given specific information on this point we would be happy to investigate it further. We monitor and compare the meters on each pitch against the corresponding intake meter. Should there be a discrepancy we investigate as a matter of course.”

“We welcome this issue being highlighted and we are keen to co-operate fully with residents. We are aware that some households have high usage and we have provided discretionary support to help with high bills over the colder winter months.  We can also refer residents to information on energy efficiency and we are keen to ensure all residents get the advice they need to keep their electricity bill as low as possible.”

A change in legislation bringing council supplied electricity into the regulatory fold of Ofgem could be a long time coming for the Hertfordshire Traveller site residents. However, the Hertfordshire Traveller site residents who spoke to the Travellers’ Times have a quicker idea to solve the problem they face.

In 2020 nearly every single household on the approx. 289 plots that Hertfordshire County Council manage signed a petition demanding that the council allow them ‘to go private’ and allow them to choose their own electricity supplier just like most other households do. After all, according to Friends, Families and Travellers research 2/3 of council owned Traveller sites have ‘gone private’ and their electricity is supplied direct by the major Ofgem regulated energy suppliers – so if it’s possible for them, then why is it not possible for Hertfordshire County Council to do the same?

“My children will probably not be able to live on a Traveller site, they are all full and they are not building anymore,” Donna, a Herts Traveller site resident told the Travellers’ Times. “The authorities all want us to move into housing, but I ask you this: If my children ever move into a house, are they going to be able to pay their bills or choose an energy supplier and get the best deal? Or complain to their supplier if things go wrong? I can’t teach them all that – I don’t know how to do that myself. They will be prey for every scammer out there. The council treat us like we are children. We want to choose our own electric supply and pay our bills like everyone else.”

The petition remained unanswered, and residents told the Travellers’ Times that when they raise this verbally, they are told by the Hertfordshire Gypsy and Traveller Services wardens that “it would cost millions of pounds.” In the past the council has indicated to the Travellers’ Times that the grids on the sites – some of which were installed in the 1970’s - were not built to serve the “size of the mobile chalets” on the sites, which seems to suggest that the grids may be overloaded and would need to be replaced before an energy company would take them on.

However, the Travellers’ Times engineer found no evidence of overloading in his investigation and said that the cables to the plots appeared to be in good condition and the right type for the kind of usage that they should expect to draw, although he added that he could not fully assess this as he would need full access to the locked main electric and metering sheds on the sites to run the necessary tests. He did say, however, that it could either be really simple and cheap to do to allow the residents ‘to go private’  – or it could involve a reasonably high cost for the council if the cables snaking out across the sites needed to be dug up and replaced – and he just did not have enough information available to determine this.

The Travellers’ Times asked Hertfordshire County Council if they would conduct a detailed feasibility study with an estimated costing per site for ‘going private’. They provided no reply to this part of our press request.

“We got lots of power cuts, the electrics would just fail three or four times a week,” Dianna, a council Traveller site resident told the Travellers’ Times. “Eventually the wardens (redacted to hide identity – here Dianna describes what appears to the Travellers’ Times to be a bodge job by the wardens to reconnect her).

“Now we still get power cuts about once a month, we have to be careful. If we have a shower at the same time as our neighbour, the power usually cuts.”

A Hertfordshire County Council spokesperson said: “Electrical installations are checked by qualified persons but the increase in the size of mobile chalets over the years has meant the energy consumed has increased to the point when occasionally supply can be interrupted. We support residents by advising on energy use but outages do occur from time to time.”

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(Picture: County Hall Hertford. By Robin Hall, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9192508)

The research for this article was paused by the snap general election, during which many government agencies are unable to provide comment.