Charity leaders have voiced concerns after reports that a government scheme to help the sector with soaring energy bills might not start for several weeks.
Prime Minister Liz Truss told the House of Commons last week that the scheme would cap energy rates for six months to protect businesses and charities from sharply rising costs.
Third Sector understands that government officials told some sector leaders they hoped the scheme would be ready from the beginning of October.
But today the government department responsible for the package would not confirm when charities would be able to access financial help.
The Financial Times newspaper reported (£) that business leaders have been told support may not be available before November.
The potential delay is caused by the complexity of business energy deals compared with household bills, as well as the need to pass legislation to make any changes, the FT said.
A two-year support package for households is still scheduled to begin on 1 October.
One sector leader warned that delays will impact the ability of charities to support beneficiaries as they head into the winter.
John Wilson, project manager at Community Matters (Yorkshire) and an expert on community-run assets, said: “Although some community buildings have managed to fix their utility costs – including one charity that has fixed [its costs] for the coming three years – this will have an effect on a large number of organisations.
“Many community buildings have still not managed to return to their pre-pandemic levels of use and finance.
“Given the talk about providing warm hubs to support vulnerable people, this delay will impact any planning for these in community buildings.
“The key difficulty is about planning for the next one or two years.
“It is likely that the dramatic increases in heating and utility costs will force some community buildings to close, given that in our most recent research more than 60 per cent had an income of less than £50,000 and 10 per cent had an income of less than £5,000.
“At those income levels, it is hard to absorb the current dramatic increases.”
A spokesperson for the National Council of Voluntary Organisations said: “As prices are set to rise again we think it’s important that this support is made available quickly for organisations that are delivering vital support to communities during this crisis, many of which are already struggling with costs.
“We are still waiting on the full details of the support, and are waiting to see what comes out of the expected emergency budget next week.”
Social Enterprise UK told Third Sector its data showed cash flow at social enterprises had weakened in recent months, and warned that “a further energy price hit, even of only one month, could unnecessarily push some social enterprises over the edge”.
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Industrial Strategy, which is managing the support package, will also decide which industries will receive further help once the initial scheme ends.
Andrew O’Brien, director of external affairs at SEUK, said charities may have “a real job on their hands” lobbying BEIS.
He said: “BEIS is a very tough department to engage with because it is so large and there are a huge number of competing sectors. Charities will be a small fish in a huge policy lake.
“Understandably, BEIS is less focused on social value and more on economic impact, but the sector still has a strong case to make.
“I would also argue that any sense of entitlement is not going to go down well in the current context, where every part of the economy and society is suffering.
“Politically, we know that there is scepticism about charities in parts of the government, so that is another barrier that needs to be overcome. This is baggage that other sectors do not carry.”
BEIS did not respond to repeated questions from Third Sector asking when charities will be able to access the scheme.
The government has not said how it plans to fund the support packages, which are set to cost more than £100bn.