Making Gwynedd Energy Efficient - a Strategic Approach to Tackling Fuel Poverty

Adrian Roberts & Gerry Baker

Gwynedd Council

A Background to Gwynedd •117,000 population

• 59,000 households

9,000 Public Sector

50,000 Private Sector

90% owner occupied

10% private rented

Fuel Poverty – a major problem2003 Housing Stock Condition Survey found …• 38.6% (22,554) of Gwynedd households suffer from Fuel Poverty

• 11.8% (6,895) of households suffer from severe Fuel Poverty (Fuel costs exceed 20% of income)

• 4.2% (2,454 households) suffer from extreme Fuel Poverty (Fuel costs exceed 30% of income)

Recent fuel price increases mean that these figures have probably risen sharply !

Key factors contributing to Fuel Poverty in Gwynedd• Poor quality housing – 56.5% of properties

constructed pre 1919

• Hard to treat homes – 60% of properties are solid walled

• Low incomes – 44% of households earn less than £10,000 p.a.

• Poor access to mains gas – only 49.2% have access. Gwynedd Energy Audit (2005) found that higher concentrations of Fuel Poor households lived in areas where mains gas was not available.

2003 – Time for action !• Mascot competition

• “Housing, Health & Education – the Energy Efficiency Link” Conference

• Promoted the importance of partnership working

• A number of schemes were set up with partners such as EAGA and British Gas

• A pilot “Here to Help Scheme” to target Private Sector properties was developed - the first of its kind in the UK.

The Dyffryn Nantlle, Private Sector “Here to Help” pilot project

• Targeted 1799 households across 5 rural villages in the Nantlle Valley.

• Scheme offered free loft, cavity wall and hot water tank insulation – measures financed by British Gas & Gwynedd Council.

• In addition, the scheme also offered Benefit Health Checks and further support from a number of charity partners e.g. RNIB, Scope, Help the Aged

• Pilot was deemed a great success, resulting in 450 measures being installed.

A new Private Sector Housing Policy• Regulatory Reform Order gave local authorities the opportunity to create a

Policy which was “in tune” with local priorities.

• In developing the new Policy, the Council were eager to ensure that it focused on 4 key principles :-

– To help as many people as possible– To improve Health– To improve Energy Efficiency– To attract external funding

• “Here to Help” ticks all the boxes !– Has since been adopted as one of the main components of the new Private Sector

Housing Policy in Gwynedd– “Here to Help” will now be rolled-out across the whole of Gwynedd over the next

few years.– Promotional DVD in production to encourage households to take advantage of the

scheme.– Theme song written by well known Welsh performer, Dafydd Iwan, and sung by 20

children from Primary Schools in the Pilot area.

Private Sector “Here to Help” Roll-out

Gwynedd

71 Electoral Wards

• Pilot area targeted 5 villages across 2 Wards (yellow)

• Michael Howard Associates assigned the task of prioritising the 71 Wards in terms of deprivation and housing conditions.

• Targeting circa 7,000 households across 13 Wards this year (blue)

• Proposal to target 7 Wards in 2007-08 (pink) and 7 Wards in 2008-09 (green)

Public Sector Housing• Key driver - Welsh Housing Quality Standards 2012

Houses must be in good condition, have suitable space standards and be energy efficient.

– Public sector stock condition survey carried out to identify what work needed to be done.

– Gwynedd Council considering the options available.– Seven year Strategic Investment Plan drawn up in the meantime.– Good track record of utilising the WAG HEES scheme to improve

insulation standards for qualifying households– Public Sector “Here to Help” partnership with British Gas enabled

the Authority to insulate 800 properties to WHQS levels – twice as many as had originally been budgeted for.

– Currently in the process of signing another contract for 2006-07.

“Improve Housing, Improve Health – the Energy Efficiency Link”, Gwynedd Conference 2005

• Reinforced the messages of the 2003 Conference - highlighting the strong links between poor housing, poor health and poor educational attainment.

• Showcased the progress made by successful partnerships since 2003

• Encouraged wider collective ownership of the Energy Efficiency and Fuel Poverty agendas.

• Key speakers included Aubrey Meyer, Francois Samuel, Alun Ffred Jones A.M.

• Circa 80 delegates from a broad spectrum of organisations.

The next step - An Affordable Warmth Action Plan for GwyneddIn 2005, WAG encouraged each LA to develop Affordable Warmth Action Plans for their areas.

• Gwynedd were one of the first four Authorities to start working on AWAPs.

• WAG paid for 10 days worth of consultancy from Julia Green to facilitate the project.

• Starting from a blank piece of paper, we have come up with a Plan, which we believe will complement the existing schemes in Gwynedd.

Development of the Action Plan

• Two workshops arranged to exchange ideas and develop a skeleton Plan

• Key local organisations across a broad spectrum were invited to take part

• Participants included various Council departments, RSLs, Pensions Service, Health Sector, Care & Repair and many more.

• Following the second workshop, a Steering Group was set up to further develop the skeleton Plan and drive the agenda

• The Plan is currently going through the final consultation process before going through the Council’s committee structure.

• It is also proposed that it be adopted by the Health, Social Care & Well-being Strategy Partnership.

• Collective ownership of the Plan is vital to its success !

AWAP – Key Aims• Provide a collective approach to alleviating Fuel Poverty in Gwynedd

• Utilise the numerous members of staff who regularly visit clients homes

• Provide training to staff members so that they can recognise Fuel Poor Households, provide those clients with energy efficiency advice and encourage them to take advantage of available grants and discount schemes

• Create a simple, yet effective Referral Mechanism

• Provide additional “Quality of Life” support from local partner organisations

• Maximise income by increasing the Benefit take-up in Gwynedd

Key Message – “Together, we can make a difference !”

To summarize…

Fuel Poverty

Private Sector “Here to Help” Roll-out

HEES / HEES+ Scheme for Public and Private Sectors

Public Sector “Here to Help” Scheme

Affordable Warmth Action Plan

Working to make Fuel Poverty in Gwynedd

a thing of the past.