Agenda and minutes

Agreed as an accurate record.

To confirm the items of business marked Part I will be considered in public and that the items marked Part II will be considered in private.

It was agreed that all items of business would be considered in public.

Members were provided with presentations on the following areas:-

Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Housing in Hillingdon

The Council’s Energy Efficiency Officer provided Members with details of what the Council was doing in relation to reducing the Carbon Footprint of Housing in the Borough.

The key drivers to reduce domestic carbon emissions were:

•        Home Energy Conservation Act (1995) – refreshed guidance issued to LA’s

•        Green Deal

•        Energy Company Obligation

•        Report by Climate Change Committee – ‘Climate Local’

•        New Fuel Poverty Strategy & definition

The Committee was made aware of a Fuel Poverty Project which the Council worked in partnership with energy providers on.The Council had bid for £106,500 funding from the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Reference was made to the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), which was a new Government led energy savings scheme which was funded by energy suppliers. There was an Energy Company Obligation of £327,000 with a minimum target of achieving 120 heating measures, 10 solid wall insulations, 60 loft and cavity wall insulation and 5 hard to treat cavity wall insulations.

The main purpose of ECO was to reduce the amount of carbon emissions and to help reduce fuel poverty.

With ECO, Energy Companies were obligated in three ways:

•        Home Heating Cost Reduction Obligation (HHRCO) – This would fund boiler replacements for those on certain benefits but was only for private sector housing. The Council would be looking at finding additional funding for this.

•        Carbon Emission Reduction Obligation (CERO) – This focused on solid wall or hard-to-treat cavity wall insulation and applied to all tenures. This amounted to around £8-10k per property.

•        Carbon Savings Community Obligation (CSCO) – This focused on loft and cavity wall insulation within 15% of the most deprived Lower Super Output areas in the Borough, and applied to all tenures.

The Committee was made aware of other initiatives which included:

• Training and local job creation – the Council was working with Job Centre Plus, Uxbridge College and Dyson Energy Services. Work was taking place at introducing apprenticeships for young people of the Borough to be employed by those organisations involved in these energy conservation works.
• Green Deal Communities Fund - Members were informed that a new £20 million Green Deal Communities scheme had been introduced by Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to help local authorities drive street-by-street delivery of this scheme. There was a potential for Hillingdon to bid for £1m. The Council would identify target streets and areas in the Borough that could most benefit from the Green Deal, and then offer incentives to households in these areas to encourage them to install energy efficiency home improvements under the Green Deal. The Council would propose incentives as part of their bids for funding, which would be assessed by DECC.
• Warmth 4 Winter – The Council was working with local partners to reduce excess winter deaths amongst the most vulnerable residents.
• Council Housing – The Council was accessing ECO funding for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

Noted.

Civic Centre Air Handling Units Replacement for Cabinet in January 2014 – Contents of this report to be noted as part of the Committee’s review into Reduction of the Council’s Carbon Footprint.

Noted.