Wiltshire houseboat residents are being excluded from government cost-of-living support, it has been claimed.

Alex Montegriffo who works as a community organiser for poverty charity The Trussell Trust said they estimated at least 100 people on houseboats on the Kennet and Avon Canal in Devizes have been excluded from the £400 cost of living energy payment.

Alex said: “Wiltshire is estimated to have 560 people living on the Kennet and Avon canal, although more will moor here temporarily.

“I have been speaking with many people living full-time on houseboats about rising costs, including fuel, license fees, mooring fees, and electricity, as well as food and toiletries etc.

“People living on houseboats have either been excluded or struggled to access Government schemes such as the Energy Bills Support Scheme (£400), Warm Home Discount (£150) and Alternative Fuels Payment (£200), so many have been left using up their savings to heat their boats and eat.”

Alex describes it as a national issue and says the lack of permanent mooring is what causes the problem.

“The reason the government excludes them is because of the risk of fraud, if they don’t have a permanent mooring it’s harder to prove that person is on the houseboat, they say they are on," they said.

“The other people who have been excluded are those who do not have a residential address who live in a houseboat, so that could be people in marinas. In Caen Hill marina in Devizes none of the people I spoke to managed to get the fund.”

“A Wiltshire Council Boater Survey from 2017, which surveyed 137 boaters, found that 94 stated they were continuous cruisers who lived aboard most of the year.

“This is only a small number of the 560 people estimated to live on boats but suggests that at least 100 people have been excluded from the £400 support, if not more.”

The leader of Wiltshire Council Richard Clewer said: “During December 2022, our Public Health teams worked alongside officers from the Economy and regeneration team and secured UK Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF).

"This allowed officers to mobilise an outreach programme with Julian House to provide the boating community with emergency fuel and food vouchers.

"More than seventy boaters benefitted from this scheme, identified by Julian House based on eligibility criteria including low income, health conditions, single parent or children with health conditions.

“While the Boater community (and other communities such as Gypsy, Roma and Traveller) were not eligible for the Energy Support Scheme and therefore did not receive the £400 discount to help pay their energy bill over Winter 2022, alternative funding was sought through the Local Authority Household Support Fund Tranche 3.

"This funding was used to distribute winter fuel vouchers (food and fuel) among the boating community.

"The food vouchers were available for supermarkets placed close to moorings for ease of access and the fuel was provided by crediting boaters fuel accounts with the suppliers.

"This allowed boaters to draw on fuel when it was needed rather than store it outside, placing it at risk from theft, dampness and taking up valuable space.

“As part of Housing Support Fund Tranche 4, the Public Health team have obtained funding to repeat the project across the winter of 2023/2024 and are hoping to support more than one hundred boaters with a mixture of fuel and food vouchers.”