Vulnerable people in Marshalswick South are being urged by St Albans City and District Council to register for a priority service providing support during power cuts.

The move comes after a meeting on 12 January between members of Liberal Democrat Cabinet and UK Power Networks, formerly known as EDF Energy Networks, to discuss ways of improving working arrangements following a 12-hour power cut in Wheathampstead on 3 December 2010. The power cut left local residents, including people living in council-owned sheltered accommodation at Thomas Sparrow House, without electricity during extremely cold weather.

Liberal Democrat Cabinet members were, in particular, concerned about the lack of clear information for customers about work that was being done to restore power supplies and hire generators for use at Thomas Sparrow House. During the power cut, the Council’s housing officers offered onsite support to residents of Thomas Sparrow House and arranged refreshments and calor gas heating for them until electricity was eventually restored.

Cllr Robert Donald, Liberal Democrat leader of St Albans City and District Council, who attended the meeting, said: “I was pleased that UK Power Networks has realised the importance of improving their emergency procedures in future to ensure that elderly and vulnerable residents do not lose power for any longer than is absolutely unavoidable and that communications or liaison on the progress for works to restore electricity is made more robust. Testing out these improvements through emergency planning exercises will help ensure that this will really happen next time.”

One of the key points that came out of the meeting was the opportunity for vulnerable people worried about electrical power cuts to add their names to a Priority Services Register managed from UK Power Networks, the company that owns the electricity network in London, the South East and East of England.

Although UK Power Networks may not be in a position to restore power more quickly to people listed on the Priority Services Register, because of engineering restrictions, it will try to contact customers on the register if it knows of a power cut in their area and try to provide them with regular updates during a fault. To take advantage of these services, residents will need a standard landline telephone that accepts calls from withheld telephone numbers.

During an emergency, UK Power Networks can also pass on details of those on the Priority Services Register to:
The British Red Cross, which will offer help and support
Contractors who may need to tell residents about planned work
Other emergency responders such as the police, the fire and rescue service, local authorities and the ambulance service.

To be eligible to be included in the UK Power Networks Priority Services Register, residents must live in the company’s network areas and must:

• be dependent on electricity for medical equipment (such as oxygen, chair stair lift, dialysis) or
• be chronically sick or disabled (for example blind, deaf, speech difficulties or mobility problems) or
• have other special circumstances.

Cllr Chris Oxley, Liberal Democrat Portfolio Holder for Community Engagement and Support at St Albans City and District Council, said: “Electrical power cuts can leave people who are sick or disabled in a vulnerable position. I strongly encourage anyone who is long-term sick, frail or disabled to apply to have their names added to the Priority Services Register, formerly known as EDF Energy Networks. They will be kept informed about power cuts affecting their property and, in the event of an unusually lengthy power interruption, their details can be passed on to the British Red Cross so that they can receive extra help and support.

“The Council has taken steps to ensure that council-owned sheltered accommodation housing blocks are listed on the UK Power Networks’s Priority Services Register. It is also working with UK Power Networks on emergency planning scenarios, in particular, on a strategy for helping vulnerable residents during electrical power cuts.”

Although the Council has registered council-owned sheltered accommodation housing blocks, council tenants living elsewhere in individual housing units will need to take steps add their names to the Priority Services Register if they wish.

Residents can apply to add their names to the UK Power Networks’s Priority Services Register by:
· Calling 0800 169 9970
· Emailing [email protected]
· Downloading an application form at: http://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/products-services/networks/pdf/Priority_Services_A5.pdf and sending it to: Priority Services Co-ordinator, UK Power Networks, Fore Hamlet, Ipswich, Suffolk IP3 8AA

More information about UK Power Networks and its Priority Services Register is available at: http://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/products-services/networks/customer-services/priority-services.shtml