Memorandum submitted by the Local Government
Association (EEFP 34)
1. Defra's Departmental Report 2008 shows
slippage against PSA 7 on eliminating fuel poverty in vulnerable
households by 2010, with a rise in the number of households in
fuel poverty. Does Defra need to redefine its approaches to ensure
it meets the statutory 2010 target?
The LGA is particularly concerned about the
rise in the number of people in fuel poverty as the result of
rising energy prices. Defra must ensure that its approach to meeting
the statutory target focuses on long-term solutions, ie delivering
energy efficiency measures. We have campaigned for a council led
national insulation programme to take 500,000 people out of fuel
poverty, alleviate the fuel billions of ten million households
and deliver a 20% cut in household carbon emissions.
The LGA has called for the government to reform
its approach to the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target.
We have called for:
— A significant additional investment
in basic insulation measures of £500 million per annum, paid
for by the energy suppliers through reduced dividends, to provide
free cavity wall and loft top ups to all households regardless
of income.
— An area based approach to engage
communities, reduce marketing costs and release economies of scale
in installation.
— Reform of the Carbon Emissions Reduction
Target to make it more transparent.
2. How effectively can policies aimed at addressing
the energy efficiency of dwellings tackle fuel poverty, given
recent rapid increases in fuel prices, and how can strategies
be developed to join up energy efficiency approaches with those
on fuel prices and income maximisation?
Policies should focus on sustainable solutions
through installing measures. These policies need to target energy
efficiency at those households in greatest need.
Councils, with their knowledge of the local
area and connections to households, can help ensure that the support
is effectively targeted. In Kirklees, the council, working in
partnership with an energy supplier and Warm Front, is offering
all households—regardless of income—free insulation
and other basic energy efficiency measures.
This offer is followed out with other council
services and includes benefit entitlement checks. This partnership
based approach allows services to be rolled together and deliver
multiple solutions to fuel poverty—both income maximization
and energy efficiency.
The cost of CERT is passed on to consumers,
however the delivery is not as cost effective as it should be.
It is not known how much money suppliers spend on marketing their
schemes and delivery is often sporadic. A locally coordinated
delivery model, promoted by councils who are more trusted than
suppliers, would be more cost effective and lower the costs passed
on to consumers.
3. Does the UK Energy Efficiency Action Plan
2007 give sufficient weight to the need to address fuel poverty
as well as tackle greenhouse gas emissions through increased use
of energy efficiency measures?
No, we would like to see a long-term plan to
both implement the most basic insulation measures at a faster
rate, and take energy efficiency measures in harder to treat homes,
with assistance targeted towards vulnerable consumers first.
4. What should be the comparative contribution
of government and energy supply industry programmes to achieving
fuel poverty objectives, and what levels of investment are required
(for example for Warm Front, the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target
(CERT) and the Supplier Obligation post 2011)? How can these programmes
be better integrated?
Kirklees Council has demonstrated how these
different programmes can be integrated into one clear offer for
residents.
The energy suppliers should make a long-term
commitment to fund the installation of basic insulation measures
without passing the costs on to the consumer. Whilst the Prime
Minister's announcement of an additional £1 billion in funding
is welcome, the LGA estimates the costs of providing every home
with cavity wall insulation and loft top ups (where they are suitable)
at up to £5 billion.
The Warm Front grants do not cover the full
costs of heating and insulation installation. This creates a problem
in that an alternative source of funding must be found to top-up
the grants and local councils are expected often to pay a top
up otherwise the necessary work would not go ahead.
5. What should the longer term strategies
be, in particular for those in the social housing sector after
Decent Homes, and what role should the energy supply industry
have post CERT (post 2011)?
The long term strategy needs to be a commitment
to scaling up assistance, delivered in a coordinated area-by-area
approach. Local councils and social housing providers have an
important role to play in this delivery.
There is a potential opportunity to protect
the fuel poor from further rises in electricity and gas by providing
them with community scale renewables and micro-generation.
The government's renewable energy strategy does
not fully consider these opportunities and the potential to use
renewable technology to tackle fuel poverty. Finance packages
should be developed to support the up front investment required
for these measures by householders or social housing providers.
6. How can we make greater progress on hard
to treat homes (for example solid wall properties or those not
connected to mains gas supplies)?
The LGA believes that an area based approach
to the installation of basic insulation measures will help to
identify those homes that are hard to treat. Tackling hard to
treat properties is often more expensive and disruptive so greater
progress can only be made if financial packages are offered to
homeowners and landlords to enable up front investment.
Off gas grid homes offer a particular opportunity
for renewable energy. To harness these opportunities, we have
suggested that local authorities might voluntarily identify themselves
as renewable growth points, and benefit from additional support.
This would allow the targeting of deployment and the associated
subsidies on off gas grid locations.
The opportunities for renewables need to be
identified locally depending on the building stock, building density
and other factors relating to the geography of the area (for example,
wind speed, fast-flowing water and solar insolation).
7. How should smart metering, new technologies
and microgeneration be deployed and incentivised in fuel poverty
approaches? Is there sufficient scope in current approaches to
apply the most appropriate solutions?
The most appropriate solutions, after increasing
energy efficiency, will vary locally—depending on the housing
stock, the density of the building, the measures already implemented,
the geography, etc.
Councils are unique in both their local knowledge
and connections to households. Working with local Energy Saving
Trust advice centres, they can help ensure that the householder
receives appropriate advice, integrate the offer into other services
and help determine where there is potential for taking community,
rather than household, scale action.
8. Is there a problem identifying those who
are already, or are at risk of becoming, fuel poor, and how can
data sharing across the public and private sector be improved
so that assistance can be targetted?
Yes data-sharing is a problem. There isn't an
accurate picture of those households that are either fuel poor
or at risk of becoming fuel poor, particularly if they are occupying
privately rented or owned homes.
Energy Performance Certificate information should
be made available, through the Home Energy Efficiency Database,
at an individual house level. This will help councils target assistance
more effectively.
9. What are the specific issues for new homes
and how can strategies ensure that all new homes minimise the
potential for occupiers to experience fuel poverty?
The timetable for meeting the zero carbon homes
target will help minimize the potential for householders to experience
fuel poverty in new homes. The timetable is more exacting for
newly built social housing, which means that the new occupiers
of private homes, either rented or owed, will be exposed to a
higher level of risk.
10. How does the Winter Fuel Payment system
impact on fuel poverty and could this funding be better utilised
to tackle the underlying issues leading to households becoming
fuel poor?
The Local Government Association has made the
case for investing new resources in measures that have a long-term
impact, rather than subsidy payments, like the Winter Fuel Payment
which do not address the underlying problems.
Local Government Association
October 2008
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