Agenda item

To consider a proposal for introducing an energy efficiency fund.

The Committee received a report which summarised proposals to use existing resources to launch a new Energy Efficiency Fund to help homeowners in Redditch improve the energy efficiency of their properties, helping them to heat their homes more affordably and reliably and also producing carbon savings.

Officers tabled the following report amendments, all of which were agreed by Members:

·         an amendment to recommendation 3 for the scheme to be reviewed six months after its launch;

·         addition of a paragraph at 3.8 of the report to read: “The scheme is for homeowners in Redditch.  Council tenants should seek help with energy efficiency by contacting staff at their Locality Housing Office.”;

·         deletion of the references to assisting with energy efficient light fittings and bulbs contained in the first section of the list of measures at Appendix 1 and in paragraph 3.9 of the report; and

·         an addition to the first section of the list of measures in Appendix 1, with reference to the financial support available, that a household financial criterion of £250 would apply towards the costs of works for those households in receipt of qualifying benefits.  Those households earning below the average Redditch household income would automatically be making their own financial contribution.

Introducing a financial contribution requirement to the scheme would ensure that the Council’s scheme mirrored the approach undertaken within the current Affordable Warmth element of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), where a minimum £250 contribution was required for broken boilers.  Where Redditch residents could benefit from existing ECO funding streams, Act on Energy would help them access such assistance.  The Council’s energy efficiency scheme would provide support for those households which did not qualify for such funding streams, to prevent them from falling into further difficulty.

Introducing a financial contribution for all households benefitting from the Energy Efficiency Fund to resolve broken boilers should enable the Council to focus on those households which did not qualify for assistance from other schemes.  This approach would also maximise the effectiveness of the scheme in terms of the number of households which could be supported.      

Officers stressed that the Council was not trying to replace the current energy efficiency options which existed outside of the Council, and that the Fund would only be used where there were no other available options or where people were in crisis.  The Head of Community Services would have discretion to consider applications which fell outside of the normal criteria where ‘exceptional circumstances’ applied.  Officers felt that they would learn from the first six months of implementation of the scheme and that a review of the scheme after that stage would therefore be pertinent.    

RESOLVED that

1)        an Energy Efficiency Fund for homeowners in Redditch be launched and delivered between November 2015 and November 2018;

2)        authority be delegated to the Head of Community Services to finalise the inclusion of the Energy Efficiency Fund within the existing Service Level Agreement (SLA) with Act on Energy; and

3)        authority be delegated to the Head of Community Services to finalise details of the approved scheme and, in consultation with the Portfolio Holders for Housing and the Local Environment, to make minor amendments to the scheme and review the scheme six months after it is launched.

RECOMMENDED that 

the remaining £17k Warmer Worcestershire capital grant funds be transferred to fund the revenue schemes detailed in the report.