Tag Archives: Green Deal

‘Councils can lead green deal’

May 2012: Article highlighting work undertaken by the Association for Public Service Excellence setting out that “central government must unlock local authorities’ potential to develop the green economy as a matter of urgency…Local authorities should also have greater financial freedom to boost the green economy. For example, they could offer council tax rebates to households that reduce carbon usage. This could be complemented by a tax exemption on low-carbon regeneration projects that are financed through municipal bonds. The exemption would be a temporary measure to stimulate green growth until the UK economy fully recovers.

Other measures outlined in the report include requiring the electricity industry to work on district energy planning and making Feed-In Tariffs viable for large-scale social housing schemes.”

Posted in News | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Energise Merton

March 2012: London Sustainability Exchange announced earlier this month that they have been working as “part of Energise Merton, in partnership with Sustainable Merton and Parity Projects, seeking to understand how Merton’s communities can help deliver and benefit from the Green Deal.

Posted in News | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Energy and Climate Questions to the Mayor

March 2012: This month the Mayor has been asked questions in relation to:

Climate change data for the Mayor’s energy strategy; London & Quadrant homes RE:NEW delivery; air quality around new energy from waste schemes in London (1, 2 and 3); borough roll out of RE:NEW; an update on RE:NEW; asking the Mayor whether he would support the Energy Revolution Campaign; the use of heat pumps on Crossrail actions the Mayor will take to achieve the targetst in his Climate change strategy; progress of the Mayor’s Low Carbon Employment and Skills Programme; the amount of funding levered in by RE:NEW from the CERT programme;  Mayoral action on the Green Deal; an update on London’s Environment StrategyLWaRB work on waste infrastructureWaste infrastructure investmentLondon Waste & Recycling BoardRE:NEW and Fuel PovertyRE:NEW funding from Decent Homes (1); and RE:NEW funding from Decent Homes (2).

Previous questions to the Mayor can be found here.

Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Event: Community Approaches to the Green Deal

March 2012: An event organised by the Greener Jobs Alliance in conjunction with South Thames College and the Furzedown Low Carbon Zone. “Find out whether the Green Deal will benefit local employers and communities and find out how you can sign up to training courses.”
Thursday March 15th, 2012
1:30pm – 3:30pm
Performance Studio, South Thames College, Wandsworth High St, London, SW18 2PP. Please RSVP to Graham.Petersen@south-thames.ac.uk

Posted in Events, News | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Impact of the Green Deal in London

21 February 2012: Angie Bray, MP for Central Ealing and Acton, has asked two Parliamentary Questions about the anticipated impact of the introduction of the Green Deal in London with regard to investment and jobs.

Angie Bray: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much private sector investment in energy efficiency in London he expects to result from the Green Deal. [94812]
Gregory Barker: The Department’s estimate of the level of Green Deal private finance is set out in the draft impact assessment published on 23 November 2011. The final impact assessment will be published in the spring. These figures are national and DECC has not carried out an assessment of the private finance requirement on a regional basis. The impact assessment can be seen here.

Angie Bray: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many jobs he expects to be created in London as a result of the Green Deal. [94813]
Gregory Barker: It is not possible to provide figures for the number of jobs that will be created in London. It is estimated that by 2015 the number of jobs in Great Britain as a result of the Green Deal and energy company obligation could be up to 65,000.

Reading the 200 page-plus Green Deal and ECO Impact Assessment (IA) is a pretty thankless task at the best of times, filled as it is with endless graphs and tables of the various scenarios envisaged by DECC’s  modellers, but it’s  particularly pointless at the moment as the Minister has previously stated – over a month ago – that the “Green Deal Impact Assessment is already out of date” (see Greg Barker’s response to George Monbiot at 11.04am).

It is difficult to see how many new jobs will in fact be created by the Green Deal as the Government anticipates in the IA a massive reduction in the number of insulation jobs with the introduction of this new flagship environmental programme. This has been picked up by a wide range of diverse commentators (UKERC, CBI, and most importantly a detailed response from the Committee on Climate Change) and many press articles (BBC and Guardian amongst others). However, maybe this will all change in the final IA to be published in the Spring…

Posted in News | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Green Deal in London: Borough Challenges

February 2012: Future of London are holding a series of events on the challenges boroughs face in implementing the Green Deal and ECO in London. The first of these “focused on how London Boroughs can be “Green Deal Friendly” and drive demand for the mechanism in their area.” Presentations from the session from local authority representatives from Croydon, Merton and others are available to view as well as a summary of the workshop – Borough Challenges Briefing Paper.

The session was well attended  by 12 London boroughs and makes interesting reading. Included amongst the comments:

1) Participants from across the majority of participant Boroughs were concerned about the feasibility of the Green Deal – particularly relating to levels of local demand and the costs of implementing retro-fit programmes in London

1) General doubts over feasibility of the Green Deal
a) Several doubts were expressed from a number of different sources about whether Green Deal will work under current arrangements
b) In particular, concerns were raised about levels of demand locally for the Green Deal, the impact this could have on the Golden Rule, and the particular costs associated with delivering energy efficiency in London.
c) One borough noted a free eco-refurbishment scheme had only been successfully completed on one property
d) It was felt that further incentives are likely to be required to boost participation.

d) At the moment there is a reluctance amongst the majority of Boroughs represented at this seminar to act as Green Deal providers – there is too much uncertainty surrounding the mechanism
e) There is a risk that Boroughs who don’t take on a meaningful role in the delivery of Green Deal will disengage from the Green Deal altogether, because they have less stake in its success

The Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation (ECO) consultation finished a few weeks ago and  Government are now considering the 600+ responses. Further updates on the Green Deal are available here.

Posted in News | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

‘London faces £500 million shortfall in share of fuel poverty and climate change funds’

20 January 2012: London Councils have responded to the Government’s Green Deal consultation stating that “London needs a fair share of government Green Deal cash to help people afford home improvements such as solid wall insulation. To date less than five per cent of the national pot to help support ‘retro-fitting’ (upgrading the energy-efficiency of existing homes) has been spent in London, despite the capital housing 13 per cent of the population. Funds for carbon saving and affordable warmth schemes available under the government’s new Green Deal should be allocated on a regional basis, says London Councils.”

Councillor Catherine West, chair of London Councils Transport and Environment Committee, said:
“The Green Deal is vital to London, good for the environment and good for people’s pockets. It can help us to tackle the growing problem of fuel poverty in London, but the government’s proposals exclude many of the people that need help most.

“London has a very high proportion of homes that are hard to treat and families living in fuel poverty. To make the Green Deal a success nationally we have to make it work in London, but we can only do that with our fair share of the available money.”

Read the full release here along with London Councils submission to the Green Deal consultation.

Posted in News | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Government’s ‘Green Deal’ needs to help the poorest

20 January 2012: The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents more than 350 councils in England and Wales, today warned that the Government’s forthcoming Green Deal would leave some of the country’s most vulnerable families out in the cold and could increase fuel poverty. Read the full news release here.

Posted in News | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Camden Sustainability Plan Update

5 December 2011: A report to Camden’s Culture and Environment Scrutiny Committee providing a six month update on progress in delivering Green Action for Change, LB Camden’s environmental sustainability plan (2011-2020), which was adopted by Cabinet on 6th April. The update covers the period from April to September 2011. Points to note include:

  • With respect to the forthcoming Green Deal the report states that “Further to thepan-North London study Camden participated in earlier this year, which looked broadly at the potential role boroughs could play in the Green Deal, we await these technical details before we can fully assess the role Camden might play within the scheme.”
  • The Camden Climate Change Alliance moves from strength to strength,overseen be a highly engaged Advisory Board. The Alliance’s membershipgrew from 125 to 172 (38% increase) from Nov 2010 to Nov 2011 and theAlliance is on track to meet its 10% reduction target by end 2012. An estimated 7.8% decrease in carbon emissions was achieved from 2008/9 to2010/11.
Posted in News | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Local authority Green Deal delivery model

December 2011: EST financing and delivery model to enable local authorities working with the private sector, to use the incoming Green Deal legislation so as to achieve their low carbon targets across both private and social housing so creating jobs and reducing fuel poverty.

Posted in Library | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Local Councils and the Green Deal

December 2011: An interim report investigating whether Local Councils could increase the equity of Green Deal implementation, and also how such a role can best be supported. Download here.

Posted in Library, News | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Green Deal – a Guide for Registered Providers and Local Authorities

December 2011: Low Energy Retrofit experts, Parity Projects, have launched, in collaboration with Keepmoat and Sustainable Homes, a new guide for Registered Providers and Local Authorities on the practical steps they should be taking to prepare for the Green Deal. The guide includes a summary of both the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation, along with information on financing the Green Deal, preparing supply chains, and becoming Green Deal provider.

The Government’s Green Deal consultation was launched on 23 November. Amongst the many documents launched that day, DECC also included a brief Local Authorities and the Green Deal information note.

Posted in Library, News | Tagged | Leave a comment