Rishi Sunak may have gambled on using opposition to Net Zero as a vote winner but inside Moorlands House a consensus still exists on the need to act decisively to decarbonise key sectors such as housing.
The Moorlands ranks very low on energy efficiency by national and regional standards: just 25.6% of houses have an EPC rating of C or above, compared to 41% for England and 36% for the West Midlands. The Moorlands also ranks badly on fuel poverty: 16% of households fall into this category compared to 13.2% for England and Wales.
The resources available to district councils in this area are painfully thin – instead of the long-term funding needed for such a multi-faceted project, authorities are forced to rely on irregular grants. These are small compared to the size of the task, the windows for obtaining and delivering the funding are tight, and the money is often hedged about with difficult restrictions.
SMDC has two new pots of money to deploy in this area. One is HUG 2 (the Home Upgrade Grant Phase 2 – not our green arts festival). This £1.5m fund runs until March 2025 and will be used to offer energy improvements to houses that are not connected to the gas grid. These measures include heat pumps, insulation and other measures.
The scheme is run through Staffordshire Warmer Homes – a route which has worked well on some schemes, less so on others. MCA have long argued that SMDC should be more pro-active in ensuring that energy efficiency schemes are fully taken up.
This is one of the subjects that the re-formed SMDC Climate Working Group is focussing on. In the previous round of working groups – in which MCA took part – members were largely left to themselves, and the results were patchy. Even those that produced definitive outcomes were ignored.
This time around there is a proper work programme with scheduled speakers, proper research and the attendance of officers and the portfolio holder. Its work breaks down into two streams – reviewing the Climate Plan with an aim to making it more focused and realistic (another long-standing MCA request) and a series of special focuses.
The November meeting featured an in-depth discussion on how best to spend the £400,000 allocated to energy efficiency under the UK Shared Prosperity Fund Award.
It’s a tiny amount of money compared to the size of the task and there was no shortage of ideas on offer. The consensus was that money might be spent on targeting relatively simple interventions – double glazing, better front doors, even loft insulation - to areas and households most in need. Future sessions of the working groups will focus on the private rented sector (the worst for energy efficiency) and Your Housing.
The size of the task was recently underlined when Climate Emergency UK published their 2023 council scorecards, relating to actions taken up to March that year. Staffordshire Moorlands came 115th out of 186 district councils, with a total score of 23%. On the buildings and heating section the council scored 37%, against an average of 40%.
‘Must Do Better’ seems the obvious response, although we think SMDC may be more likely to manage this than Rishi. We watch with interest.