Olivia Blake Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam
I just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who has been helping neighbours over the last 10 days. I am absolutely devastated for everyone who has been affected by this and I’ve been trying where I can to get more help and support for people.
You’ll know, with the exception of Wednesday when I went down to Parliament to ask for more help from government for this major incident, I have been on site, delivering leaflets, helping answer questions and assisting with welfare checks and broader doorknocking. I remain very concerned for everyone’s welfare. I know many are very worried about others within the community.
Please if you have a concern about someone or a family member ring the council on 0114 273 4567 who can arrange for a visit and offer extra support, or visit Lomas Hall who are still handing out items for people who are vulnerable.
Today I will be located in Christ Church next to Lomas Hall, 17 Church St, Sheffield S6 6DB. If you have been or are still affected by the gas outage, please come and have a cup of tea and a chat, and my team and I will make sure you have all the support available.
If you are yet to see anyone from Cadent and you don’t have gas please ring 0800 917 9598 and let them know.
Cadent and their contractors are working as quickly as they can but I know from today that a couple of people haven’t yet had a visit or have been out when they called. If you have not been visited and are heading out please leave your contact details on a note on your door to help Cadent and their contractors to reach you and arrange access.
If you have had your gas back on and it goes off again please contact Cadent on 0800 917 9598 who will send an engineer back out as quickly as possible.
On compensation, after conversations with Cadent they have agreed to double their daily rate and everyone impacted will receive a seven day payment of £910. If you’ve been affected for more than 7 days you will continue to receive the doubled payment of £130. Businesses will also receive double the payment from Cadent.
I have met the CEO of Yorkshire Water three times including on site yesterday to ask for more support for our community. They’ve sent out Yorkshire Water staff who have been helping with welfare checks and they have also provided engineers to help.
Last Monday I immediately asked to meet the CEO after I heard of the extent of water damage to properties to lobby for compensation. I asked them to accept claims for additional costs incurred and any damage done by water. I’m pleased that when I met them on Friday they had agreed to do this and have set up a dedicated line to help people who don’t have internet access to make claims. The number is: 01274 250 555. Please share this number with anyone without internet. Yorkshire Water will also be accepting claims from businesses.
They have also agreed to an automatic payment of £30 towards excess energy costs however if you have had to use more energy than this they will accept claims for it so please do make a claim. Either on the number above or on the online form here: https://www.yorkshirewater.com/stannington
I met with the Association of British Insurers on Wednesday, who are the body who represent most UK insurance companies, to ask that they contact their members about the incident and ask for advice for constituents. They recommended that even if you do not go on to make a claim that you let your own insurance company know as soon as possible if you’ve been affected. I asked them to be clear with their members the importance of making quick payouts in this situation given the impact on people and the time of year. If your home has been damaged by water your insurer may offer alternative accommodation but this is policy specific.
Working with my fantastic volunteers I’ve been leafletting and doorknocking affected areas with this information but please do share this as we haven’t been able to reach everyone yet and I don’t want anyone to be worrying about money as a result of this.
I will not be going down to Parliament this week as I want to be here to support the community where I can, until the gas in back on. I will continue to be based in the church next to Lomas hall and will keep you updated on this. If you have a suggestion of anything else that would be helpful then please do let me know either on here or by email on olivia.blake.mp@parliament.uk
I know many people have raised questions with me about infrastructure spending and resources. I’ve raised this with the relevant services and will be speaking with the regulator Ofgem tomorrow. I will be requesting to speak with Ofwat soon. Clearly the community needs answers on how this happened but right now everyone is rightly focused on getting gas back on for everyone and providing assurance around compensation.
I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has helped a neighbour, provided free teas and coffees or a warm space. To anyone who is still impacted I’m so sorry that you have had to go through this devastating event.
And finally a thank you to all the staff and volunteers working with agencies from Cadent, Sheffield City Council , local councillors, British Red Cross , Forge Valley School and all the amazing businesses offering warm spaces and free hot drinks and Northern Powergrid for the hot food vans.