The Brent Campaign Against Climate Change, of which I am chair, has had preliminary discussions with Cllr Roxanne Mashari, lead member for the Environment, on the possibility of setting up a Low Carbon Zone in the borough after our Secretary, Ken Montague, made a presentation to the Brent Executive.
That is selecting an area where a concerted programme of measures aimed at reducing energy consumption through structural changes (roof and wall insulation, double glazing, micro-generation) and educational initiatives. It would include housing, businesses, schools and public buildings in the area. The LCZ would serve as an exemplar, that after valuation could be rolled out across the borough in due course.
We pointed out that money was available through the ECO (Energy Company Obligation) which is designed to tackle fuel poverty, affordable warmth and carbon emissions at zero cost to those in highest need.
I therefore welcome a report that goes before Monday's Executive which sets out a tender process to find a project partner to deliver an ECO programme in Brent. LINK
The report sets out the project aims:
The project’s key objectives are to:-
- Improve the energy efficiency of properties and reduce energy consumption
As the project’s primary requirement is to deliver the required
improvements to domestic properties, the delivery partner will be
required to treat domestic properties as the service priority, i.e.
marketing its services, facilitating customers, explaining and
securing the sign-up and installation of appropriate energy
efficiency improvements across the Borough.
It is envisaged that a significant portion of the market and
therefore a key target for the project will be ‘hard to treat’
domestic properties i.e. those that cannot accommodate
cost-effective measures and may therefore have missed out on
previous energy improvements. These properties will have the
potential to access ECO funding. Given the priority to be
attributed to domestic interventions over non-domestic the balance
of the finance, scope and value of the opportunity will favour the
former. It is likely that any scheme will include the HRA stock as
a priority but it should be stressed that fuel poverty and energy
efficiency issues affect the growing private sector and there is an
expectation that any scheme will seek to address these issues.
Furthermore, in order to achieve long term investment in the
Borough’s supply chain and employment opportunities, some form of
confidence in the longevity of this market locally is required.
Consequently a 5 year contract (with up to a two year extension if
necessary) is sought, with a break clause included at the end of
the first phase of ECO to safeguard against any major changes in
legislation/obligations.
The report recognises, as with the LCZ, that an area by area approach may be beneficial:
The ECO is
measured in terms of meeting carbon reduction targets; different
types of energy efficiency works therefore attract different levels
of funding. In addition, the situation of the existing tenant or
homeowner can influence the level of funding given. A commercial
partner may be likely to seek to meet its ECO obligations in the
cheapest and most efficient way, for example by carrying out work
on an estate or area basis to achieve economies of scale. Any
commercial imperative will need to be balanced against the
council’s own priorities in terms of the greatest benefit to low
income households.
There will be
occasions whereby an area by area approach is the most appropriate
and could offer wider regeneration opportunities and it is likely
that stock within the HRA will fit this model. The position may be
complicated by the presence of leasehold homes within a block - for
example, if in a low- rise block of flats, external ECO funding was
available to cover all of the social housing properties but within
the block, 5% of flats were privately owned and considered ‘able
to pay’. The position of leaseholders varies according to the
terms of the lease: in some cases, the council is entitled to
re-charge for improvements while in others this option may not be
available. Since the expenditure in this case is not incurred by
the council, it is envisaged that any re-charge would be waived.
Additional staff resources may also be required to support the
project and contract manage the partner. The specification will include an
expectation that any requirement for this will be funded by the
partner. Any other costs, which will include officer time, will be
met from existing budgets.
The Council has
an existing long-standing SLA arrangement in place with ‘Energy
Solutions’ and their role in this project in terms of stock
analysis, encouraging take up and identifying our most vulnerable
residents who require assistance needs to be formalised.
