Affordable Warmth Strategy

1.  INTRODUCTION TO WEALDEN
2. NATIONAL FUEL POVERTY STRATEGY
3. CURRENT POLICY LANDSCAPE
4. NATIONAL FUEL POVERTY STATISTICS
5. THE LOCAL PICTURE
6. PARTNERSHIP WORKING
7. OBJECTIVES, PRIORITIES AND ACTION PLAN

Wealden is a rural district located in the middle of East Sussex and is one of four other local authorities in East Sussex including Eastbourne, Lewes, Rother and Hastings. Approximately 80% of Wealden is classified as rural and 60% an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). As of June 2016 there were 67,062 households with a total population of 157,575. The local economy is predominantly made up of micro businesses employing 0-4 people.

Figure 1: Map of Wealden

Some excellent work has been achieved in Wealden over the last 5 years and this strategy provides a strategic framework going forward to 2023; building on the good work we have achieved in the local area over the course of the last strategy. The key drivers of fuel poverty are income, fuel prices and consumption. The fuel consumption of a property depends on the lifestyle of the household and the energy efficiency of the property. The effects of fuel poverty can include:

• Debt
• Self-disconnection
• Winter mortality
• Poor mental health
• Impacts on educational attainment
• Cold related illness that is made worse from living in a cold
• Heat or eat

This strategy aims to make affordable warmth available to all residents whilst also adopting a “worst first” approach in the work that we do.

In March 2015 the government published a new fuel poverty strategy for England (Cutting the Cost of Keeping Warm). The strategy introduced a new Low Income High Cost (LIHC) indicator that describes a fuel poor household as one which has “an income below the fuel poverty line and higher than typical energy costs”.

Under the previous strategy government adopted the 10% indicator. This defined a fuel poor household as one which “needs to spend more than 10% of its income on all fuel use and to heat the home to an adequate standard of warmth”. One of the weaknesses of the indicator included energy price fluctuation. This weakness was witnessed in large swings in the national fuel poverty statistics. For example, in 1996 there were 5 million households in fuel poverty. By 2003/4 this number decreased to 1 million and then increased to 4 million in 2009 despite investments in the housing stock through schemes such as Decent Homes and Warm Front.

“The LIHC indicator accounts for the extent and depth of fuel poverty. The depth of fuel poverty is accounted for by the fuel poverty gap. This looks at how much a fuel poor household needs to spend to keep warm when compared to a typical household”

Source: HM Government. 2015.

 Through the Energy Act 2013, the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000 (WHECA) was amended to bring forward a new legally binding fuel poverty target. The target aims to: move as many fuel poor homes as is reasonably practicable to a minimum of band C by 2030. A set of interim milestones provides a roadmap going forward towards the band C target as depicted in figure 3. Currently less than 5% of fuel poor homes in England have an energy efficiency rating of band C and above.

“Progress against the fuel poverty target is measured against the Fuel Poverty Energy Efficiency Rating (FPEER) banding. Similar to the Standard Assessment Procedure the framework is scored from 1-100 and rated A-G. The FPEER also accounts for the impact of fuel poverty schemes on energy costs”

Figure 3: Fuel poverty targets for England. Source: BEIS. 2017.

 Using statistical analysis on the annual fuel poverty statistics (for 2012) the strategy also provided some insight into who the fuel poor really are. Some generalizations were drawn:

• Mainly families
• Living in semi-detached, detached or terraced housing
• Either owner occupier or private rented tenure
• Living in older properties, either pre 1919 or 1919 – 1974
• In work or retired
• Relying on non-gas fuels
• Have an EPC rated E, F or G.

There are a number of policy instruments aimed at tackling fuel poverty, reducing carbon and increasing energy efficiency. The table below provides a snapshot of the national fuel poverty landscape:

Figure 4: Table providing snapshot of current policy landscape

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) release annual fuel poverty statistics. The annual statistics report for 2017 shows that 11% of homes across England were estimated to be in fuel poverty in 2015. This represents an increase of 0.4% from 2014 bringing the total number of fuel poor households to 2.5 million. The total cost of closing the fuel poverty gap is estimated to cost £884 million.

Figure 5: National headline fuel poverty figures for 2017 (2015 data).

Source: BEIS. 2017.

Figure 6: Average cost of closing the fuel poverty gap per the FPEER banding

Source: BEIS. 2017.

Figure 7: Average fuel poverty gap by tenure.

Source: BEIS. 2017.

“Local authorities have the lowest average fuel poverty gap while the private rented sector has the highest. The introduction of the minimum energy standards in the private rented sector should help raise housing standings as has been seen with the decent homes standard”

Figure 8: Average fuel poverty gap by household composition

“Multi-occupant properties and couples with young children are the worst effected households. Couples under 60 and single person households under 60 are the least effected household types”

 Source: BEIS. 2017.

This strategy builds on the success of the last Affordable Warmth Strategy 2011-2016 and action plan to help achieve improvements to promote affordable warmth and reduce fuel poverty for the residents of Wealden. The strategy and action plan focusses on practical action and partnership working between the Home Energy Efficiency Officer, Wealden District Council, health organisations and voluntary and community sector organisations. Under the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 each local authority submits reports on a two yearly basis setting out the energy conservation measures that the authority considers practical, cost effective and likely to result in a significant improvement in the energy efficiency of residential accommodation in their area. These reports are published on the Council’s website www.wealden.gov.uk .

Successes under the previous strategy 2011-2016:

 ·       My Home

A rural energy project funded by DECC following a successful bid for

£125,000. This resulted in 230 homes receiving energy efficiency advice, an EPC assessment of the property and where required loft and cavity wall insulation accessing ECO funding where eligible.

·       Let’s Insulate Wealden Campaign

A rural insulation project across hard to reach communities which resulted in nearly 800 rural households getting free insulation through the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) programme.

·       “Big Switch” campaign

Delivered 2 collective energy switching campaigns in Wealden. In 2016 198 people switched and collectively saved £55,000. In 2017 953 people switched and saved £217,000.

·       Warm and Healthy Homes Fund

A grant funded heating programme delivered by the East Sussex Energy Partnership (ESEP) across East Sussex. In Wealden £80,000 of funding delivered the following measures:

• 7 full new central heating systems
• 15 replacement boilers
• 7 electric night storage heater systems

The measures were delivered on a “heat first insulate second” principle with measures aimed at those suffering from the effects of living in a cold home.

·       Smart Energy Parishes

A rural energy project funded by Smart Energy GB and delivered across rural communities in Wealden in the format of a roadshow. The project aimed to increase smart meter awareness. The project was run in co-ordination with the Big Energy Savings Network (BESN) and Citizens Advice. Approximately 500 residents received face to face advice delivered at 11 local events on general energy awareness, bill checking and the benefits of smart meters

·       Pop Up Energy Shops

We have delivered 3 Pop Up Energy Shops. The most successful was held in Hailsham in 2014 which saw over 400 people visit the shop and get free energy saving advice.

·       Warm in Wealden

A grant funded pilot delivered by Citizens Advice to trial and test a central point of contact fuel poverty service across rural Wealden. During the winter of 2016/17 the following outcomes were delivered:

• 230 people switched supplier at an average saving of £205 – over £40,000 saved.
• 79 people claimed the Warm Home Discount which boosted local incomes by £11,060.
• 62 people had fuel debts
• 61 people signed up to the Priority Services
• Secured over £30,000 in benefits/debt write offs
• 23 people received energy efficiency measures as a result of onward

·       Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP)

A DECC funded heating programme which saw heat pumps installed into 157council properties to provide whole house affordable heating systems. The council have conducted home visits to all heat pump homes to make sure those living with the technology reap the benefits.

·       Solar Photovoltaic (Solar PV)

Solar PV and Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting installed into 9 sheltered housing schemes. This has reduced electricity consumption by 50-70% in the communal supply.

Local Energy Performance Data:

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is required when a property is bought, sold or rented. Wealden holds a dataset which contains information on all Energy Performance Certificates lodged between 2007 and 2016.

Datasets can be useful tools to help inform strategies and action plans. Care should be taken when reviewing data as limitations apply:

• Gaps in the data: there are approximately 67,062 properties in Wealden but only 38,032 EPC’s recorded on the
• Data duplications: Duplicated data and properties included in the
• Accuracy: the data is subject to inconsistencies picked up by energy assessors when creating EPC’s.
• Snapshot in time: over time the dataset becomes more unreliable as the housing stock is dynamic and subject to constant

Figure 9: Bar graph showing the number of properties in Wealden per EPC band.

Source: DCLG. 2016.

 The bar graph shows that 9.93% of properties listed on the EPC database are poorly rated F or G. Of the entire stock 19.45% have an E EPC rating and 38.86% have a D rating. In comparison 31.75% of the stock have an EPC rated A, B or C. It can be argued that the greatest challenge lies in closing fuel poverty gaps in F/G rated homes because the fuel poverty gaps are larger.

The greatest opportunities lie in closing fuel poverty gaps in band D properties because the fuel poverty gaps are lower and most common.

Estimated cost of closing the fuel poverty gap in Wealden

The estimated cost of closing the fuel poverty gap in Wealden has been calculated by multiplying the number of properties per EPC band by the average fuel poverty gap.

Figure 10: Estimated cost of closing fuel poverty gaps in Wealden

The estimated costs of closing fuel poverty gaps per EPC band have been calculated by multiplying the number of properties per EPC band by the average cost of closing a fuel poverty gap per each FPEER.

The estimated cost of closing the fuel poverty gap in Wealden totals

£12,586,456. When this figure is uplifted by 44% to account for the gap in the dataset the costs rise by £5,538,040 to £18,124,496. With 5568 estimated homes in fuel poverty the average estimated fuel poverty gap per household in Wealden totals £3255.

Local Fuel Poverty Statistics:

Figure 11: Table showing the number of fuel poor households in Wealden (2011-2015).

From 2011 until 2013 the proportion of fuel poor households declined from 8.1% to 7.4%. From 2014 onwards the number of fuel poor households started to rise.

Source: GOV.UK. 2017.

Figure 12: Wealden’s top ten fuel poor wards

Source: ESCC. 2015.

Fuel poverty in rural areas such as Wealden is exacerbated by the high number of non-traditional construction and solid wall properties and the fact that geographically 80% of the district is off the mains gas network which equates to nearly 30,000 homes having no access to mains gas. This coupled with asset rich but cash poor residents and hard-to-treat homes increases Wealden’s standings in fuel poverty tables. Without access to gas or renewable technologies, rural householders tend to rely on electricity, LPG, oil or solid fuels for heating.

Statistical evidence from the government’s national fuel poverty statistics (2017) suggests that rural fuel poverty is linked to rurality and access to mains gas. For example

• 6% of homes residing in rural areas have a FPEER rated F/G.
• 2% of those living in rural areas have a gas connection.
• 8% of urban homes have a FPEER rated F/G.
• 91.1% of those living in urban areas have a gas connection

One of the key barriers preventing rural fuel poor household’s access mains gas and reducing the depth of fuel poverty includes the high cost of getting gas connections. Alternatively, and as identified in the governments new fuel poverty strategy, installing simple measures for the first time, such as central heating or loft and cavity wall insulation can increase thermal comfort and help fight fuel poverty.

Figure 13: Table showing the number of excess winter deaths (EWDs) in Wealden (2010-2016)

It is recognised nationally that it is common to observe large fluctuations in EWDs for which trends over time are often not smooth. For this reason a five- year moving average is used to smooth out any short-term fluctuations and make the trend over time clearer. Overall, historical trends in EWDs in England and Wales show that the steady decline in EWDs since the 1950 to 1951 winter period has levelled off in recent years, with the most recent estimates more consistent with a slight five-year average rise since 2012 to 2013. EWDs levels are also influenced by the temperature and influenza incidence. The number of EWDs in 2012/13 was the lowest number since records began in 1950/51. This was attributed to the temperatures in December and January remaining over 2 degrees higher than the five year average. The peak in EWDs that was observed in the 2014 to 2015 winter period was attributed to a predominant strain of flu.

Service delivery in the Wealden area:

Wealden maintains close working relationships with a number of public, private and third sector organisations to make sure affordable warmth is available to all residents. Our current partnership base includes:

• East Sussex Energy Partnership
• Your Energy Sussex
• iChoosr
• Wealden Citizens Advice

We are looking to broaden the number of partners we work with to help tackle local poverty more effectively.

Objective:

To reduce fuel poverty and improve local health and wellbeing, by promoting energy efficiency and government funded schemes to help residents reduce fuel bills. To act on climate change and help residents understand and take up funding, efficiency measures and renewable energy.

Key areas the action plan will focus on for the next 3-5 years are:

• To improve energy efficiency in existing private housing stock and reduce energy demand in To help residents maintain health, comfort and wellbeing.
• To reduce the numbers of households in fuel poverty and continue to promote this as a key
• Develop and expand partnerships in the public, private and third
• Monitor the aims and objectives of the action plan and strategy, collating information, reporting on
• To encourage awareness and use of renewable
• To reduce carbon dioxide
• Maximise residents’ disposable
• Raise general awareness of energy
• To influence broader
• To facilitate the development of schemes, projects and funding options for local initiatives.
• Raise awareness of energy efficiency and affordable
• Increase uptake of assistance for energy efficiency, heating and renewable energy
• Work to improve energy efficiency in the Private Rented
• Work to raise awareness and reduce fuel
• Provide information about insulation measures for homes with no insulation
• Continue partnership working with relevant
• Enable residents obtain the best out of HHCRO through the blending of funding
• Monitor local trends in the number of households in fuel poverty and the number of excess winter deaths to determine effectiveness and impact of initiatives

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Abbreviations

References

1.  HM 2015. Cutting the cost of keeping warm – a fuel poverty strategy for England. Available online.
2. BEIS Annual fuel poverty statistics report, 2017 (2015 data). Available online.
3. 2016. Bulk EPC database for Wealden 2007 – 2016.
4. UK. 2017. Fuel poverty sub-regional statistics. Available online.
5. 2015. LIHC data summary.