west midlands fuel poverty forum welcome · –excellence in statutory and core functions –brexit...
TRANSCRIPT
West Midlands Fuel Poverty Forum
WELCOME9.15 Refreshments and registration
9.30 Welcome Andy LittlewoodNEA
9.35 NEA Fuel Poverty Policy Briefing Matt CopelandNEA
10.25 Warm & Healthy Homes Fund Heather CritchlowFindings & Impacts NEA
11.00 Comfort Break
11.15 Supplier Reform Workshop Matt CopelandVulnerable people- NEAshould suppliers be more responsible?
11.45 Open Floor-sharing information about upcoming eventstraining, funding opportunities, shared resources, new initiatives…
12.15 Close and lunch
Policy Briefing (Spring 2019)
Matt Copeland – Policy Manager
Major Developments in the Last Quarter
Price Caps In Place – Price Change
Ofgem RIIO 2 Proposals
Feed in Tariffs
Ofgem Forward Work Programme
BEIS Select Committee Energy Efficiency Inquiry
Price Caps• Ofgem are required to assess the
level of the price cap every 6 months to ensure that it provides a fair deal for both suppliers and customers
• They have just announced that they have increased the level of the cap by about £117 for the average customer due to rising wholesale costs. The PPM cap will increase by £106
• This is not unexpected and will be changed automatically.
• The best deals can still be found by shopping around
• Citizens Advice have created a leaflet that helpfully explains the cap in a simple way (link)
Ofgem RIIO 2 Proposals
• Ofgem is looking at the next price control for gas distribution networks. There are several important aspects to this:
Proposal Impact
Extend FPNES and with better targeting and possibly incentivise energy efficiency improvements
Help connect more fuel poor homes to the networkPossibility of a more joined up approach to connections – could get help for gas boilers/efficiency improvements too
Potentially make a vulnerability license condition
Embed vulnerability more deeply into GDN activities (like suppliers)
Use it or lose it allowance More money spent specifically on vulnerable customers
Feed in Tariffs• As of 1st April 2019, there will be no feed in tariff for small scale renewables (e.g. solar
panels)
• The government has also stopped payments for energy exported from the house as of the same day
• Both only apply to installations after the date only
• BEIS have consulted on a replacement payment whereby suppliers will be mandated to offer an export tariff to their customers. This will have to be greater than 0p for all periods and the customer must have an export meter (e.g. SMETS 2)
• This will significantly reduce the financial case for solar PV installations and will mean that combining with a battery becomes more attractive.
Ofgem Forward Work Programme
• Ofgem has released its draft “Forward Work Programme 2019-21”
• They discuss how they will work towards four goals:– Making retail markets work for all– Enabling future markets and system
arrangements– Network preparedness and performance– Excellence in statutory and core functions– Brexit
• NEA believes that the draft programme is a good start, but would benefit through greater detail on:• Enforcement action for missing SMART targets• Linking vulnerability more strongly in shaping
future markets• Helping to reduce the scale of self disconnection
BEIS Committee Energy Efficiency Inquiry
• The BEIS Committee has launched an Inquiry into Energy Efficiency
• NEA have provided a written response to this, including:
– An outlined of why energy efficiency should be a national infrastructure priority
– A critique of ECO 3 and the PRS MEES rules
– A call to introduce a new £1bn Clean Growth Fuel Poverty Challenge Fund providing necessary central investment to meet the near-term fuel poverty milestones.
What’s coming up?
Fuel Poverty Strategy
RIIO 2 Decision
Comprehensive spending
review
2015 – 2018
Findings, impacts and what’s next
Heather CritchlowProject Development Manager
The impact of cold homes
• Last winter, there were over 17,000 deaths due to cold housing
• Excess winter mortality last year in the UK was the highest since 1976
• www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpARY8u-HFlnhYLvLvupjzGB6vXpK-Y_G
• “Why treat people and send them back to the conditions that made
them sick in the first place” Professor Michael Marmot, 2015
• Ill health and deaths attributed to cold housing are preventable
• NEA’s Warm & Healthy Homes Fund (2015-2018) aimed to tackle cold
housing and excess winter deaths
• Designed to align and put into practice NICE NG6 recommendations to tackle excess winter deaths and cold-related ill health
• Build partnerships with health sector
• Grant funding for large and small heating/insulation measures
• Joint delivery with EAS
• 22 partners across GB
• Health-based eligibility criteria
• Flexibility to support people ‘at risk’
• No client contribution
Warm & Healthy Homes Fund achievements
• Funded energy efficiency interventions in 2,663 GB hhs
• Partners levered in c. £2.4m match/gap funding
• Trialled referral pathways and mechanisms for engaging health
colleagues
• 81% of partners thought WHHF had enabled them to better
develop referrals/partnerships with health practitioners
• NEA/EAS trained 1,227 advisors/practitioners reaching approx.
412,272 service users each year
• Project Co-ordinators delivered advice to 1,254 householders
Targeting the most vulnerable using health based eligibility criteria
Targeting the most vulnerable: low income/fuel poor
“I'm 87 years old and disabled. I have a small income and only minimal savings. Costs of caring for myself is large so I manage with blankets and hot water bottles when I am on my
own and can turn the boiler off”
Prevalence and type of health condition
Health based referrals
Households benefiting from large heating/insulation measures:
• Before measures were installed, 72% thought their physical health and 55% said their mental health was affected by being unable to keep their home warm
• Post intervention, 55% thought their health condition or disability had improved and 15% had reduced their number of GP visits
Households benefiting from small, low-cost measures:
• 45% thought their health condition/disability had improved
• 40% agreed that their home had less damp or condensation post intervention
“We all became ill with respiratory infections at Christmas, which was
unavoidable. It has really improved the whole family’s health and
wellbeing to be warm and have hot water”
Health impacts
After having a new boiler fitted in 2018 and being able to experience a warm home, WHHF client Rebecca said:
“I don’t honestly think you realise how important heat is to your health and
what a difference it can make. I’ve lived with Cerebral Palsy all my life but never made the association between the cold and pain.
I honestly hadn’t realised”
Delivery Insights• Flexible health-based eligibility criteria ensures help is provided where
most needed
• Engagement methods need to be multi-faceted to get to the hardest to reach
• Providing feedback to the referrer builds the quality of future referrals & demonstrates positive outcomes
• Leverage of additional funds demonstrates client top-ups not required
• Providing a combination of measures and good quality, multifaceted advice will ensure maximum benefit
• Challenges associated with implementing NG6 guidance
• Evaluation & demonstrating savings to the health sector
• Targeting of underrepresented health conditions
www.nea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/WHHF-Impact-Report-2018.pdf
What next?• Maintain WHHF partnerships and share our learning
• NEA is supporting a cross departmental Business Energy & Industrial Strategy/Health & Social Care working group
• Working with Public Health England to evaluate Fuel poverty and Health training pilot for health practitioners
• Our Research Team can support you in making a case for investment and evidencing need
• Training: suite of courses addressing health and cold homes as well as bespoke content
• Warm & Safe Homes Action Guide – practical guidance on NEA’s website
• Fuel poverty and health catalogue – available later this year
Smart Energy GB
Smart Energy GB in Communities
Smart Energy GB in Communities
Since 2016 National Energy Action (NEA) and Energy Action
Scotland (EAS) have been working with Smart Energy GB to
deliver the Smart Energy GB in Communities programme
Activities include briefings, funding and free resources to support
engagement activities
In 2018, we provided grants of up to £5,000 to 138 organisations,
trained/provided smart meter briefings to 774 Champions and
worked with an additional 54 partner organisations not in receipt of
a grant
Feedback from our training has been extremely positive, with 95%
agreeing it will enable them to help their beneficiaries understand
more about smart meters
Smart Energy GB 25
Launch of the 2019 programme
The 2019 programme is targeting funding and support to regional
partners supporting people over the age of 65
Insight tells us that older people are less likely to take up a smart
meter and that they have concerns around technical issues as well
as the security and privacy of smart meters. Our role is working
with trusted partners to help address these barriers and ensure that
people aged over 65 understand how a smart meter and in-home
display could benefit them.
Our grants programme launches this week, with funding of up to
£25,000 available to support regional organisations reaching
people over the age of 65. Full details will be on the NEA website.
We will also be offering FREE bite size briefings for partners that
are new to the smart meter rollout. We are keen to engage and
support local authorities and housing associations – please contact
us at [email protected] to understand how a smart meter
briefing could benefit your staff.
Smart Energy GB 26
Free resources for your organisation
Smart Energy GB’s Resource Centre offers free printed leaflets for
partners, explaining what smart meters are and how to get one.
A number of resources are also available to download in alternative
formats (braille, easy read, large print, audio and British Sign
Language), bilingual materials (English/Welsh) and in five
additional languages (Bengali, Urdu, Polish, Guajarati and Punjabi).
smartenergyGB.org/en/resources/resource-centre
To keep up to date with NEA’s smart meter work please
subscribe to our newsletter via
nea.org.uk/smartenergyGB/e-newsletter-subscribe
Smart Energy GB 27
Energy Market Workshop
Matt Copeland – Policy Manager
Supplier Hub
Ofgem are looking at changing the current energy supplier market model (“the supplier hub model”)
Supplier
Network Costs
Generation Costs
Policy Costs
Complex frameworks, arrangements and rules
3 Questions
We would like to get your thoughts on 3 questions:
1. What is good about the current market arrangements?
2. What is bad about the current market arrangements?
3. What should Ofgem do to change it
Open floor/ news from elsewhere• ECO3/ECO flex- local schemes?
• Renewable energy
• Innovative housing (Wales) any regional examples?
• Suppliers- news from outside the big 6
• Housing “Unfit for climate change challenges”
• Switching stats- action in the West Midlands?
• Wolverhampton Homes- Affordable Warmth & Fuel Poverty Action Plan
• EPC inaccuracies
