YORKSHIRE & HUMBER

Background:

NEA has recently established its Yorkshire and the Humber regional office based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. NEA also hosts area offices in North Yorkshire and Huddersfield. In recent years NEA has built up a network of contacts in the region and acts as a focus for information on fuel poverty and affordable warmth policy and practice in the region.

Key Regional Partnerships:

• Regional affordable warmth activity in Yorkshire and the Humber is primarily facilitated and directed through Make Fuel Poverty History, the region’s affordable warmth action plan. NEA is a member of the Implementation Group that is responsible for delivering the aims and objectives of the action plan along with agencies such as Government Office for Yorkshire & the Humber, the Yorkshire & Humber Assembly, NHS Yorkshire & the Humber, the Department of Health, the Housing Corporation and many others.
• NEA sits on the Advisory Board to Community Energy Solutions (CES) Yorkshire & Humber.  CES aims to make a difference to the lives of people in their communities by making their homes more energy efficient, healthy, comfortable and durable, and their heating more affordable.

Work programme 2007-2008 – Yorkshire and the Humber

In accordance with NEA's business plan, NEA continues to expand its work in the region by:

• Increasing NEA’s involvement at the regional level to promote implementation of the Government's Fuel Poverty Strategy
• Further development of Affordable Warmth Strategies with local authorities, assisting those with strategies to implement, monitor and review them and helping authorities to move towards the establishment of Warm Zones
• Expansion of consultancy services for local authorities, housing providers and other organisations
• Promotion of energy champions within Primary Care Trusts and community and voluntary organisations
• Establishment of skills centres
• Further developing technical projects
• Continuing a proactive regional fuel poverty forum

Examples of current policy and practice development activity include:

Affordable Warmth Consultancy

Building on previous work across the region affordable warmth consultancy work is currently being taken forward with:

• Wakefield MDC
• Kirklees MC

Regional Policy Matrix Development

NEA has received funding to produce a regional policy matrix for the nine regions in England, including Yorkshire and the Humber. The matrix will enable affordable warmth initiatives to be most effectively targeted where they will have the greatest impact on policy development and implementation.  This includes both work to deliver affordable warmth where it has already been identified as a priority, and development work to ensure that affordable warmth is given greater emphasis when policies are being developed and reviewed.  The matrices will be reviewed and updated quarterly, which will provide an opportunity to map progress in commitments at a regional level to meet national fuel poverty targets. 

Regional Affordable Warmth Activity

NEA has secured funding from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Kirklees Energy Services (KES) to deliver a range of tasks that will support the regional affordable warmth action plan.  2007/08 activities include:

• To link to the Primary Care Trusts and improve the understanding and referral network between housing and health sectors
• To assist local authorities in meeting fuel poverty related LAA targets by advising and supporting the development of baseline data.
• Compare fuel poverty related LAA targets between each local authority identifying gaps and providing advice about ‘gap-plugging’.
• Maintain relationships with regional agencies and other relevant organisations to ensure that affordable warmth and the eradication of fuel poverty continues to be considered relevant to their work.
• Participate in and provide support to the Implementation Group for the Regional Affordable Warmth Action Plan for Yorkshire & the Humber.
• To encourage the take up of the Government’s Warm Front grant across the region and support local authority/Warm Front liaison.

All activities funded through this project will be carried out in liaison with appropriate local and national agencies.

Technical Projects

For more information on technical projects in the region please contact the Regional Co-ordinator (contact details below)

Forthcoming Events

Yorkshire & the Humber Fuel Poverty Forum

NEA holds regional Fuel Poverty Forums three times per year throughout England. The Fuel Poverty Forums are targeted at strategic policy makers and front line service providers and aim to:

Showcase innovation and best practice
• Promote dialogue and discussion on a wide range of sectoral issues
• Help NEA shape policy developments and campaigns

See NEA’s Events Diary for forthcoming meetings or contact NEA’s Regional Co-ordinator for details.

SEE the Impact Seminars

Following introductory high level policy briefings and presentations at the regional government offices to the major regional stakeholders, a series of seminars will be held during 2007-08 including one in Yorkshire and the Humber in the first quarter of 2008. The seminars will bring together senior policy makers with representatives from organisations working on the ground to deliver solutions to fuel poverty and will be targeted at representatives from local authorities, community and voluntary sector organisations, the business sector, health sector, regional development agencies, and regional agencies/groups with an interest in energy efficiency and fuel poverty.  For more information click here See The Impact Seminars

Contact details:

For more information on NEA’s current activities or advice on consultancy or partnership development projects in Yorkshire and the Humber please contact Kath McDaid, Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Co-ordinator at NEA on 01484 351 773 or email kath.mcdaid@nea.org.uk

To contact NEA’s Operations Manager based at the Huddersfield area office contact Lorraine Donaldson on 01484 223 489 or email lorraine.donaldson@nea.org.uk

To contact NEA’s Project Co-ordinator based at the North Yorkshire area office contact Diane Bland on 01609 883 918 or email diane.bland@nea.org.uk

Reviewed: 31/01/2008