Vulnerability team updates
Vulnerability Team updates
Today’s Hot Topic – Inclusive Support Provision. This topic was chosen because of previous stakeholder feedback at an earlier workshop. Context – Why focus on inclusivity? and What we know
General
NGN are still on track to utilise the full GD2 VCMA allowance by March 2026, with close tracking of project performance to support this.
Preparations are ongoing for the next ISO 22458 Kitemark audit in January 2026. This is a re-certification.
Community Partnering Fund – for this year's round of funding, we will be working with Point North (previously County Durham Community Foundation). The focus will be around the geographical area of Tees Valley.
Winter Preparedness
NGN have supplied winter warmth packs to partners to distribute to vulnerable customers over the winter period.
Additional support has also been provided to our 20 Centres for Warmth, covering the period between October 2025 and March 2026.
Services Beyond the Meter (SBtM)
We’ve continued to refine our SBtM in-house delivery by our own engineers, whilst continuing to offer a fast, efficient response, and achieving excellent feedback from our customer satisfaction surveys in the process.
Our work with trusted partners is ongoing and this has enabled us to offer referral pathways for appliance servicing. We have recently onboarded Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service as a referral partner for this service provision.
GD3 engagement and commitments
NGN recently engaged on vulnerability support within our Stakeholder Conference, which was a hybrid event and very well attended.
NGN are currently developing a Collaborative Vulnerability Investment Strategy with colleagues in electricity and water, and an Inclusive Vulnerability Impact Assessment Tool to support project development.
Engagement with our Customer Panel took place on Saturday, 8th November and was focused on shaping our Customer Support Fund future investments (shareholder funding).
NGN are continuing to work with Ofgem and other GDNs to shape plans for GD3, including what our commitments, governance and projects will look like.
Why focus on inclusivity?
The subject of the workshop was Inclusive Support Provision, and the scene was set to provide some context to the audience.
What we know
- Our communities are wonderfully diverse and varied, it’s not a case of ‘one size fits all’.
- Compared to others, some groups within our communities may face additional barriers or challenges to engaging in available support
- Proactive consideration of what these challenges may be, enables us to minimize barriers to engagement
By taking all of that into account, inclusivity requires us to:
- Think beyond what is commonly accessible for the majority of customers or service users;
- By considering who may be affected and why;
- Take positive steps/actions to address this;
- Create broader inclusivity of the support that is on offer within services
Some examples of how NGN supports inclusivity:
- Information leaflets in 21 different languages;
- Recite Me tool on website;
- Language Line subscription;
- Accessible CO alarms;
- Locking Cooker Valves
