Agenda item

The Committee received a joint report of the Corporate Director of Resources and the Interim Corporate Director of Regeneration and Local Services that provided members with details of the projects and schemes available in the County to tackle fuel poverty.

The Chair introduced the Housing Regeneration Project Manager who was in attendance to provide a presentation to members on fuel poverty and the warm homes campaign.  He informed the Committee how those identified as being fuel poor were measured using low income high cost definition that rose from a household’s inability to afford to heat their home to a temperature of 21?C in their living room and 18?C in another living areas of the home. He explained that there were 11% of households in County Durham that were in fuel poverty.  He added that this figure was lower than the national average and over time had showed a downward trend.

The Housing Regeneration Project Manager noted that there were issues with some households in County Durham especially in rural areas where the use of solid fuels was the only option to heat their homes that created higher fuel bills.  To tackle fuel poverty in County Durham the County Durham Energy and Fuel Poverty partnership had brought together external organisations to deliver an action plan of seven key strategic elements

·        Maintain a strategic partnership to co-ordinate delivery of affordable warmth and energy efficiency programmes in County Durham

·        Maintain a countywide housing energy database to target assistance and report on fuel poverty, energy efficiency and carbon reduction programmes

·        Maximise the uptake of all current energy efficiency programmes in private sector properties

·        Maximise awareness of energy efficiency programmes in Social and Registered Provider properties

·        Signpost vulnerable households to income maximisation and debt management services

·        Improve the health and wellbeing of residents and reduce health inequalities by minimising the negative health impacts of cold homes

·        Provision of energy efficiency advice services

The Housing Regeneration Project Manager advised the Committee that the Warmer Homes Campaign had been launched through Housing Solutions and was a one-stop referral system for those who were eligible to access energy efficiency grants to transform their homes with energy saving improvements such as central heating or home insulation to have a warmer home and lower energy bills. 

The Team worked with the Area Action Partnerships, GP surgeries, had door to door promotions and had carried out a mail-out using data from the Revenue and Benefits department to target 23,000 residents who were claiming benefits to raise awareness and put mechanisms in place to get information out to residents about the service.  The Housing Regeneration Project Manager explained that residents who were most eligible were those who had cold related ill health like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and asthma and had an income of less than £30,000.  He noted that there had been £1.4 million grant brought into the County. 

The Housing Regeneration Project Manager told the Committee that 41 GP surgeries within County Durham wrote to their patients to inform them of the grant. He explained that his service were unaware of this data until the patient chose to complete and return the questionnaire to Durham County Council, which acted as permission for the service to make contact with them to see how they could be helped.  He noted that residents could also be put in touch with other organisations that offered further services such as the Fire Brigade offering carbon monoxide alarms. He added that for those residents with mobility issues home visits could be arranged to offer help and advice on choosing the cheapest energy companies. 

The Housing Regeneration Project Manager noted there were issues experienced by some residents who were in fuel debt that prevented them from accessing cheaper energy tariffs.  He notified the committee that all energy companies had charitable arms to have fuel debt written off and his service had worked with some residents to allow them to change to cheaper companies and offered them advice on how to manage their money better.

Councillor Wilkes was concerned that some residents were paying high tariffs for their energy bills.  He wanted to know if Durham County Council could do anything further through the Durham County News to target elderly people to help them reduce their bills.  He was aware that energy prices were reducing, and this would make the figures look better but he was worried that they may disguise issues when they start to increase.

The Housing Regeneration Project Manager responded that there was a downward trend regarding fuel prices at present but the Warmer Homes Campaign did take measures to lower energy bills of residents who sought help.  Information was published in the Durham County News that was distributed to every household in Durham and the team worked with Durham County Council’s Area Action Partnership’s to engage with people in the community to promote the service.

Councillor Higgins thanked the Housing Regeneration Project Manager for the information and asked when GP’s would be writing out to patients.

The Housing Regeneration Project Manager notified the committee that writing to patients through GP’s was an annual project and it was proposed that letters would be sent out in March 2020.  He stressed that information regarding patients was kept strictly confidential and the team only contacted patients to offer advice when they gave authority through the returned the completed survey.

Councillor Coult asked if there were any plans to target organisations that provided care to the elderly in their own homes.

The Housing Regeneration Project Manager acknowledged that the service was always looking for new partnerships and organisations to contact to spread the message further afield.  He asked Councillors to let him know if there were any networks, they knew of that may benefit from being contacted.

Councillor Coult agreed to pass on contact details of the organisations that she was aware of.

Councillor Milburn was concerned that the Government’s plans to move away from using gas in the future would be implemented immediately and wanted to know if there was a plan B with regards to gas boilers.

The Housing Regeneration Project Manager stated that by 2025 no gas boilers would be installed into new properties and it was proposed to have a new form of fuel to supply new homes and businesses other than gas.  He stressed that this would be a phased approach for older properties and would not happen overnight. 

Councillor Milburn thanked the Housing Regeneration and Project Manager and was glad to hear that there were stages to the process.

Councillor Crute wanted to know if the grants were promoted to the private sector and private landlords.

The Housing Regeneration Project Manager advised that a new scheme had been introduced that would allow private landlords the ability to apply for the grants if they were willing to make a 50% contribution. The Housing Solutions Team worked with tenants and if eligible could apply for assistance but required approval from the private landlords before any works could be carried out at the property. 

Councillor Crute thought that seeking approval from private landlords may prove difficult if they were not local but was happy that they would be given the opportunity to apply for the grant. 

Councillor Adam commented that the selective licensing that was to be introduced would help with absent landlords.

Resolved

(i) That the report and presentation be noted

(ii) That further progress report be included in the Committee’s future work programme