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Tag Archives: Fuel Poverty
London served poorly by Warm Front programme
22 May 2013: After some delay, DECC have published their latest annual report for the Warm Front programme for the year April 2011-March 2012. Little information has been released on the Warm Front programme since early 2012, when measures delivered per parliamentary constituency were published.
The report indicates that London has – once again – been poorly served by the programme, with the capital having the lowest number of homes assisted. See graphic from the report below.
Warm Front was the Government’s principal fuel poverty alleviation scheme and the only energy efficiency scheme centrally funded by Government [ie the various energy supplier obligation programmes that have operated over the past decade (EEC, CERT, CESP) are paid through by charges added to UK householders electricity and gas bills by energy companies]. The incoming Government decided to significantly reduce the budget of Warm Front – from an annual spend of £345m to £110m in 2011/2012. This was further reduced to £100m in 2012/13 which was also decided to be the last year of the scheme.
The foreword to the annual report points out that “For the first time in the history of the scheme the budget available was not fully spent. The greatest reason for the budget not being fully spent was undoubtedly the low rate of applications received by the scheme.” The Government came under significant criticism in 2012 as a result of this underspend, coming as it did at not only at a time of increasing fuel price rises, but also after the budget of the programme had been cut by 68%! A House of Commons briefing note from February 2012 provides details to all of this – and further info on the impacts in London in post here).
In relation to the final year of the programme – 2012/13 – the annual report for which we may not see for another year (!?) – the Government actually withdrew funds late last year from the Warm Front budget to pay for a number of new initiatives - the Green Deal Pioneer Places programme, a fuel poverty programme and a collective switching scheme (details via the following link). It was not announced at the time that some £30m was drawn out of the Warm Front budget to fund these schemes - and only came to light earlier this year (see latter parliamentary questions from Shadow Secretary of State Caroline Flint to DECC here).
New London Health Board
May 2013: The newly constituted London Health Board met for the first time on 20 May 2013. A press release sets out that the Board is a “partnership between local government, the NHS and the Mayor of London, which has been established to provide leadership on health issues of pan-London significance, where this adds value to decisions, agreements and action at local level.” A useful evidence paper was presented at this first meeting setting out some useful information on ‘Health in London‘. None of the papers indicate that the Board are to address issues relating to health and its relationship to cold homes or fuel poverty, however, this is only their first meeting.
The London Climate Change Partnership recently published ‘‘Linking Environment and Health: A resource for policy and decision makers working on Joint Strategic Needs Assessment’. The LCCP sets out that “Given the importance of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) in shaping priorities for health and social care investment it is essential that a proper assessment of such environmental factors, which impact on population health and health inequalities, are given real attention and emphasis. Health and Well-being Boards and the Boards of health and care providers will also want to take full account of environmental issues and community capacity when addressing quality and finance challenges.”
The key study looking into these issues was undertaken by the UCL’s Institute of Health Equity. Their key report ‘The Health Impacts of Cold Homes and Fuel Poverty‘ was published in 2011 and can be downloaded here.
Disabled Facilities Grant to fund heating
April 2013: The Department for Communities and Local Government announced last week new funding to help councils fund the adaptations disabled people need to live independently in their own home. The press release states that “Ministers have protected the Disabled Facilities Grant programme for the last 3 years, with a further £185 million expected in next year’s funding“.
Included in eligible types of work for funding are:
- adapting heating or lighting controls to make them easier to use
- improving or providing a suitable heating system
A document setting out the allocation awarded to each local authority is provided here. Looking at London councils , it can be seen a total of £23.5m has gone to the capital – a breakdown of each borough’s funding is provided below:
Threefold increase in fuel poverty in London over past decade
27 March 2013: A parliamentary question asking about the numbers of fuel poor households in the UK, including for numbers at the regional level, helps provide an indication about the growth in fuel poverty in the capital over the past decade.
Data is only available as yet to 2010 (see PQ link above for references): updated statistics for 2011 and 2012 will be made available in June of this year. London is common with most other areas in observing a threefold increase in the numbers of fuel poor households as a consequence of increasing fuel prices – most notably from 2005/06 onwards. The Government is however currently working on a redefining the definition of fuel poverty and the proposals – as set out out in a consultation paper late last year – are anticipated to have a significant impact in London, as a consequence of housing costs now being taken into consideration (see earlier post here for details).
The Big London Energy Switch
March 2013: The ‘Big London Energy Switch’ collective switching scheme was initiated earlier this year after securing £686,655 in funding from DECC (see earlier post here for full details). Those involved include London Councils, with 18 other boroughs and with the Royal Borough of Kingston as lead. Kingston is also where Secretary of State for Energy, Ed Davey, a longtime support of collective purchasing, is the local MP (see here for further details). The other 17 London boroughs are: Bexley, Brent, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, Lambeth, Merton, Newham, Richmond, Southwark, Sutton and Waltham Forest.
A recent London Councils briefing paper highlights that three other boroughs (Lewisham, Harrow and Tower Hamlets) are now also supporting the scheme but are not in receipt of DECC funding. A Big London Energy Switch website has now been established along with an introductory video to the initiative.
The Scheme is currently procuring a switching provider with support from law firm Pinsent and Masons.
Climate and Energy Questions to the Mayor
March 2013: This month the Mayor has been asked questions in relation to:
the number of applications to the London Energy Efficiency Fund; the Mayor’s correspondence with DECC on the ECO; fuel poverty and health; Details of decentralised energy schemes being supported by the Mayor; visits to Brixton Energy Solar projects; energy efficiency targets in the Mayor’s London Rental Standard; fuel poor families in London – and RE:NEW delivery in the private rented sector; the Mayor’s work to plug the energy gap; progress under the RE:FIT programme in London boroughs; the level of Green Deal activity in London; Is the GLA a Green Deal provider; plans in place to spend the £5,627,342 DECC Green Deal and Fuel Poverty funding to the GLA; 2013/14 funding to the RE:FIT programme; evaluation of the RE:FIT programme;
RE:CONNECT programme budget for 2013/14; Better Building Partneship programme budget for 2013/14/; events attended by the Mayor’s Environment Advisor; Bunhill CHP scheme; attendance at the High Level Electricity Working Group; and participation on environmental issues on the Talk London website.
Previous months questions to the Mayor can be found here.
Posted in Decentralised Energy, Energy Efficiency, News, Renewable Energy
Tagged Buildings, Fuel Poverty, Funding, Green Deal, Health, Lambeth, Photovoltaics, RE:CONNECT, RE:FIT, RE:NEW
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Energy Efficiency in London
March 2013: Helpful new briefing paper presented to the London Councils Leaders Committee on ‘Energy Efficiency in London’, which highlights:
- The bulk of recent funding from DECC to the GLA (see here and here) will be spent on replacing/repairing boiler and heating systems within the participating boroughs, as well as improving the insulation properties of homes, utilising the framework contracts already in place from the RE:NEW scheme. A smaller part of the funds will be spent on both domestic and business Green Deal assessments.
- Almost one in five London households is in fuel poverty, currently defined as householders spending more than 10 per cent of their income on energy to keep warm. This is significantly higher than the national average as a result of a greater proportion of older and hard-to-treat homes. The problem is likely to get worse too,with one in four households projected to be in fuel poverty by next year as a result of rising energy costs and the UK’s homes being some of the most energy inefficient in Europe.
- London Councils is actively pursuing Government to include measures to simplify tariffs and provide clearer information to consumers. We are lobbying for more competition to enable suppliers to offer market-beating tariffs in cases, such as the Collective Energy Switch currently pursued by London Councils and to ensure that fuel poor households will continue to benefit from centrally funded measures for retrofitting activities.
- Due to the higher costs of delivering retro-fitting in London, there is a danger that London will lose out on its fair share of ECO funding, as it did under the CERT scheme. London Councils, with the GLA, lobbied for regional targets, which Government did not accept and has resulted in adapting the RE:NEW work to include a larger element of working with retrofitting providers to address some of their main concerns (local planning matters, parking issues and sharing of benefits claimants data). The Energy Bill, however offers a new opportunity to reinforce this point, which London Councils is actively pursuing.
- Due to the types of homes in London and the prevalence of fuel poverty, vulnerable households are unlikely to meet the golden rule of the Green Deal without further financial support.
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Library, News
Tagged ECO, Energy Efficiency, Fuel Poverty, Green Deal
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Update on the ECO brokerage
March 2013: DECC have provided a summaries on the first four auctions undertaken under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) brokerage (for more on the brokerage – see here and here). Details can be viewed on DECC’s website here . They’re not the easiest thing to decipher…hence, useful that Inside Housing have produced the following analysis highlighting that:
- Energy companies are paying as much as double last year’s high for carbon savings from energy efficiency works on homes
- The identity of the organisations selling the savings is hidden until a deal is struck to make the process more transparent and competitive.
- Many of the lots did not meet the reserve price set by green deal providers.
- A spokesperson for DECC said: ‘Ultimately, the ECO brokerage market is in an early stage of development and it will take a few auctions for the price to settle.’
Climate and Energy Questions to the Mayor
March 2013: This month the Mayor has been asked questions in relation to:
Collective Switching initiative by boroughs; details on decentralised energy projects being delivered by the Mayor; Mayoral response to the Government’s ECO brokerage consultation; the spend timeline for DECC funding to the GLA and boroughs; the GLA response to the Government’s consultation on the definition of fuel poverty; the impact of sun spots on London’s CO2 emissions; a London target for ECO; progress on delivering the Green Deal through the Mayor’s RE:NEW programme; recently published GLA environment reports; recent meetings of the Mayor’s Environment Adviser; the Mayor’s position on climate change; the commissioning of Weather Action; CHP capacity secured through planning in 2012; Sutton energy from waste plant; the Mayor’s support for solar power in London; emissions from the new London Bus; support from the DfT’s Green Bus Fund to TfL; changes being made to the Congestion Change Exemption; details of the Greener Vehicle Discount; support for biomethane buses in London; Camden’s biomethane fuelling station; RE:NEW’s support to tackling fuel poverty and the list of non-GLA organisations that have utilised the RE:FIT programme.
Previous months questions to the Mayor can be found here.
Posted in News
Tagged Camden, Decentralised Energy, ECO, Fuel Poverty, Green Deal, Housing, Photovoltaics, RE:FIT, RE:NEW, Renewable Energy, Sutton, Transport, Waste
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‘Groundbreaking plan to use excess heat from tube system for domestic electricity supply’
8 February 2013: Following on from the recent inauguration of the Bunhill heat and power scheme, the Islington Tribune newspaper reports that the council is looking to use waste “heat from London Underground that escapes through a vent in City Road…to supply new private homes being built nearby.” The proposal was discussed at the Council’s Executive meeting on 7 February where the borough’s Energy Strategy for 2013-16 was also set out. The papers presented at the meeting provide additional information on the heat offtake scheme:
“The network extension will be innovative by capturing waste heat from the London Underground tube tunnel vent and the electrical substations on City Road. £1m grant funding has been applied for and is now available from the European Commission (EC) to help part-fund this innovative extension of the Bunhill heat network. £2.7M council capital is required to match this funding and this is being taken forward as part of the 2013/14 budget process.”
Building on the existing Seasonal Health and Affordable Warmth (SHAW) plan, the Strategy paper additionally sets out that a borough Fuel Poverty Strategy will be developed by March 2013. Download Making Islington fairer in tough times: Energy strategy 2013 -16 here.
Also discussed at the Executive meeting were procurement details of community heating system on the Finsbury Estate.
Posted in Decentralised Energy, News
Tagged Community Heating, Decentralised Energy, Fuel Poverty, Islington
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Energy and Climate Questions to the Mayor
February 2013: This month the Mayor has been asked questions in relation to:
the Mayor’s position on nuclear and its role in securing London’s future energy supplies; the number of ‘low carbon generators’ currently helping power Transport for London’; the Mayor’s application to DECC’s Fuel Poverty and Green Deal Pioneer Places funds; European Investment Bank (EIB) funding for energy efficiency retrofits in housing; the amount of energy consumed by The Shard; the potential for the Green Deal in London; further funding for the Mayor’s RE:NEW home energy efficiency programme; promoting the Green Deal to Londoners over-65; publication of the latest TfL Environment report; GLA environment publications; hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles; the number of fuel poverty households treated under RE:NEW; revised publication date of the RE:NEW evaluation report; the total number of homes treated under RE:NEW; funding and evaluation of the RE:CONNECT Low Carbon Zones programme; zero carbon developments on the Greenwich Penisula; the Mayor’s Low Carbon Prize; the RE:FIT Schools initiative; the number of jobs created under RE:FIT; progress on the LED traffic lights initiative.
Previous months questions to the Mayor can be found here.
Posted in News
Tagged Energy Efficiency, Energy Security, Fuel Poverty, Funding, Green Deal, Greenwich, Low Carbon Zone, Mayor, RE:CONNECT, RE:FIT, RE:NEW, Schools, Transport
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‘Londoners shouldn’t be left out in the cold’
February 2013: With National Energy Action (NEA) announcing today that there is now “a massive shortfall in funding for insulation programmes for low-income households” Labour member of the London Assembly Murad Qureshi AM writes that “with energy prices skyrocketing by up to 11 per cent this winter it is unlikely many people are unaware of this growing crisis….In London the picture is stark. Before the price hikes, well over half a million London households were fuel poor. Yet London has got a raw deal from the energy companies – and not just on pricing.” Read the full article here.