My speech to Full Council on my Notice of Motion on a way forward in tackling the crisis of fuel poverty:
We are facing an energy bill crisis, with millions of
people nationwide struggling to heat their homes.
It is
estimated that 5,957 families in Exeter are currently in
fuel poverty
What does
that mean?
It means that
nearly 6000 households in Exeter need to spend more than 10% of their income on
keeping their homes warm.
And the
problem is likely to get worse,
with 1 in 3
households projected to be in fuel poverty by 2016 compared with 1 in 5 now.
There are 2 main reasons for this crisis
Gas, oil and coal prices are high,
And the UK’s homes are some of the most energy inefficient
in Europe – leaking heat from their doors, walls and windows.
This means they cost much more than they should to heat
and power, and that contributes to climate change too.
Cold homes are damaging the health of vulnerable members
of society, including children, older people and people with disabilities.
Diseases such as asthma are made worse, and people are
more likely to have strokes and heart attacks.
Illnesses caused by cold homes cost the NHS nearly one
billion pounds each year.
But there is
a fair and permanent solution to this crisis
We can have
warm homes, reduce our fuel bills and cut carbon emissions.
The answer is for the Government to use the money it gets
from carbon taxes to help make homes super-energy efficient – with excellent
insulation, renewable energy and modern boilers.
Even though these things save money on energy bills and
keep our homes warmer, many people simply can’t afford to pay for them –
meaning they stay cold.
That’s why the Government must provide more funding to
help.
The funding
is there – from carbon taxes used to help combat climate change
What about the
current funding of the failing Green Deal scheme?
That Green Deal
that will spark an energy efficiency and home improvement revolution
A Freedom of
Information request in August this year revealed that some £20 million has been
spent on administering the Green Deal
That’s in addition to some £244 million set aside in loans
to pay for measures such as a new boiler, loft insulation or solar panels
Yet figures published by
the Department of Energy and Climate Change show despite 38,256 assessments
having been conducted, but as last week 961 of these had been signed by the
customer.
All this hot air (no pun intended)
and only 961 sign up?
That means probably 3 households in
Exeter have signed up.
Nearly 6000 families face fuel poverty in Exeter and
only 3 households sign up to a deal that will spark an
energy efficiency and home improvement revolution
The figure falls farcically short of the target ministers had set of
10,000 by the end of the year.
At current rates, it could take 160
years for all of the UK's housing to benefit.
Companies who were taking on staff to
cope with the demand are now laying them off.
The fact that over 95% of
people who had a Green Deal assessment didn’t want to take out a package should
be a wake-up call for the government
So wakey wakey – Mchael
Fallon, George Osborn and David Cameron
Over the next 15 years the Government will raise an
average of £4 billion every year in carbon taxes.
If the
Government recycled this carbon revenue back to households, it could provide
billions of pounds to help insulate the UK’s homes. The benefits would be
immense.
This could
bring 9 out of 10 homes out of fuel poverty, lower people’s bills, cut carbon
emissions AND create jobs.
It’s time
for an Energy Bill Revolution.
This money could be used to help all households or just to
support the most vulnerable.
There is, for example, enough carbon tax revenue to treat
600,000 fuel poor households every year, providing each of them with a grant
worth on average £6,500 to install energy efficiency measures. This would
reduce their energy bills by an average £310 a year.
Recycling
carbon revenue to make homes super-energy efficient could bring 9 out of 10
homes out of fuel poverty. It could also be used to quadruple savings in carbon
emissions compared to the Government’s new energy efficiency schemes and create
up to 200,000 jobs – exactly what we need to support the UK’s economic
recovery.
I’d like Exeter City Council to join The Energy Bill
Revolution - a movement of people
committed to ensuring warm homes and lower bills for all.
It is a public alliance, made up of over 150 major
organisations
children’s and older people’s charities,
environmental groups,
health and disability groups,
trade unions,
consumer groups,
businesses, politicians and public figures.
The Liberal Democats agreed to back the campaign when they
voted through the “Green Growth, Green Jobs” policy paper at their conference
on Sunday 15th September.
A commitment to use carbon revenue to insulate fuel poor
homes has become official liberal
democrat party policy.
At the Labour conference, the party announced that they
would scrap the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation and replace them with
more effective policies.
But nothing on this matter at the Conservative Party
Conference – and I should know.
At times during the conference, I was rated by MHP
Communications as in top 10 of #Tory social media influencers/
Even the Big 6 Energy companies have signed up,
Yes those baddies who complain about Ed Miliband’s pseudo-Marxist
plans to freeze energy prices after the General Election because it will put
them out of business
Those self-same Big 6 Energy companies, each of who
already offer at least 1 tariff that is frozen to 2015 or beyond.
Frozen prices can help them earn business now, but not in
2015.
Thatcher privatized the energy market to increase
competition – now Cameron complains there isn’t enough competition.
But its not competition we need now to solve the crisis of
fuel poverty
It’s co-operation
I hope you will all support this resolution
