Andrew Stunell

Warm Homes: An Opportunity Offered

In February 2009 Simon Hughes MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, and myself launched Warm Homes: An Opportunity Offered. It is a challenge to the Labour Governemnt over their lack of progress over the last ten years in cutting carbon emissions and improving the energy efficiency of our home. It also offers a programme to completely rennovate the existing housing stock over a ten-year period, improving energy efficiency and cutting carbon emissions, reducing fuel bills, and providing a much needed boost to the construction industry. It is a programme for saving carbon, saving money, and saving jobs.

Our aim is to bring all Britain's 22 million homes up to the necessary energy efficiency standards (SAP 81). The triple benefit of the Liberal Democrat plan is to ensure warm homes, lower fuel use and fuel bills, and less harm to the planet.

The present schemes for energy efficiency in British homes have been too little, too late and too confusing. We will end the confusion of current initiatives taken by the government and energy suppliers.

Warm Homes Fund

We will channel existing spending and the additional requirements. The Liberal Democrats have previously announced proposals to compel energy generating companies to commit some of their £9.5bn windfall from the ETS to energy efficiency and fuel poverty reduction measures.

We now propose this money to be put into a new fund called the Warm Home Fund. This will distribute money by housing authority area in England, and to the Scottish Executive and Welsh and Northern Ireland Assembly governments.

The priority category for the scheme will be to help those households whose fuel bills exceed more than 10% of their income - households often described as living in fuel poverty. We will, as a minimum, honour the Government's previously announced target of delivering warm homes to the most needy households by 2016.

National Green Loans Scheme

In addition to increasing funding for Britain's most needy households we will create a national loan scheme which would enable all homes to apply for funding to insulate their homes.

The cost of the work will be in the form of a commercial loan, quantified in advance. The loan will be repaid over a period agreed by the householder, up to a maximum permitted period. Repayments will be added to the energy bill. The annual repayment cost at no time will be allowed to exceed the reduction from the energy efficiency savings.

The householder will be assumed to want to spread the bill over the maximum period but can choose to shorten this. On best estimates obtained from the Energy Saving Trust the average cost will be £5000 for the installation and an additional £1500 for the administrative costs of the survey and the organisation of the programme.

Warm Home Zones

To achieve economies and efficiency of organisation and scale, whole villages, streets and communities will be programmed for work at the same time. Clearly it will take a while for the programme to grow from the current rate of under 300,000 homes receiving the Warm Front assistance in 2007/08, or the even greater number announced by the Prime Minister in September.

During 2009/10 we will engage, recruit and plan for the work of the required number of qualified energy assessors and surveyors, a number which will grow from 2010 as the programme expands to maximum activity. We will work with the construction and related industries and existing institutions of Higher and Further Education. We will use present and future opportunities for apprenticeships and internships in ways which maximise training, experience and qualification.

Sustainable Energy Agency

Responsibility for delivering policies is currently diffused. In the key field of energy, there are several non-statutory bodies, including the Energy Saving Trust and the Carbon Trust, which play similar roles in promoting energy efficiency. Liberal Democrats would merge the Carbon Trust and Energy Saving Trust into a single statutory Sustainable Energy Agency.

New Green Jobs

The work required in the 99% of British homes that do not yet meet the SAP 81 standard will also produce significant opportunities in many aspects of the construction industry. We will work with the Construction Industry Training Board and small, medium and large employers as well as the self employed to ensure maximum work opportunities.

We will use the experience of the Warm Front academy in Birmingham to ensure training and employment opportunities are available for employers and employees in each England region, and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Interns, apprentices, trainees and others employed in delivering the scheme will train and work wherever possible in their locality.

We believe this programme will make a significant contribution to the green road out of recession. In particular this programme can help employers to avoid redundancies and maximise the number of opportunities for graduate employment.

Downloads

Warm Homes - An Opportunity Missed

Warm Homes - An Opportunity Offered