People in Oldham with urgent medical needs are being ignored after the rise in the energy cap has massively increased the cost of life saving energy equipment.

After a resident contacted local Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani, worried about rising energy costs stopping them from running their BPAP machine which they have to use overnight, he contacted the Council to ask what support was available. There was no national support, and the Council was organising a working group to look at the problem.

The working group had no timescale for reporting, and despite his requests for updates, nothing has happened in the two months since.

Sam said: “I can’t understand why the response to this is a working group? Given that the cap on energy costs has been massively increased, why is there not a national response? People are being forced to choose between lifesaving medical equipment and staying warm.

“This shouldn’t have been left to the Council to respond to, but given that it has, the energy cap increased on April 1 – it is now nearly the end of June. Why has nothing happened.  

“This is only going to get worse. The price cap is going up again in October, and that is going to hit people much harder, as people will be using their heating much more in winter.

“I have written to the Secretary of State for Health to ask for action. I am simply horrified that none has already been taken.”