IN Cornwall almost one in seven homes use heating oil. That is one of the highest percentages in the country.

Almost 6,000 homes in the Camborne, Redruth and Hayle constituency alone, so it is hardly surprising that the cost of heating oil features strongly in my inbox. Last winter nationally we saw some significant market failures with some of the less scrupulous heating oil suppliers adopting concerning practices.

This year the Labour government is acting to protect heating oil customers. Under new plans to regulate the sector for the first time, families who rely on heating oil will benefit from stronger protections. Thousands of families who were left facing soaring costs due to overseas conflicts and order cancellations by supplies will receive benefit from clearer standards for suppliers and better routes to compensation when things go wrong.

The government stepped in with £53-million of emergency support during the crisis. Indeed, only a fraction that was allocated to Cornwall Council has been claimed and I urge anyone who might be eligible to apply for heating oil support on the Council website.

Residents qualify for this support if they meet one of the following criteria:

1. You receive Council Tax Support (CTS). Households currently in receipt of Council Tax Support for their main residence are eligible.

2. You are exempt from Council Tax due to Severe Mental Impairment (SMI). If your property is exempt from Council Tax because all residents are registered as severely mentally impaired, you can also receive the payment.

And now the Government is going further. Rural households will not be left carrying the risk while the market failed to protect them. We have accepted the Competition and Markets Authority's recommendations to put consumers first, hold suppliers to account and ensure families get treated fairly.

As a member of the Labour Rural Research Group (LRRG), this is something we have been calling for from government for some time. It is part of what we describe as ‘the rural penalty’ – the additional costs and disadvantages faced by those of us that live in rural areas. In Cornwall this is compounded by remoteness.

So in areas such as healthcare, education, transport, housing as well as heating, quite simply we face costs that are significantly higher than urban counterparts. The government has begun to recognise this in some areas, such as adult social care.

But rest assured, along with LRRG we are pushing hard for the ‘rural penalty’ to be recognised more widely. And, along with colleagues, I have also been pushing Ministers to commit to a more positive policy towards Hydrated Vegetable Oil (HVO) which also proves a less polluting and more efficient alternative to kerosene.

We have more work to do top convince government that HVO should form one of the alternatives for those rural residents. We have some great local examples of where HVO is being used successfully and it could provide a really beneficial solution, as heating oil costs have risen by up to 82 per cent since the start of Trump’s extraordinary military action against Iran.