North East

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Background:

 

NEA established its regional office presence in 2004. The Regional Co-ordinator currently works out of NEA’s national office in Newcastle and can provide further details on any of the following work programme and partnerships activities.

Key regional partnerships:

  • NEA is represented on the Sustainable Energy Network Stakeholder Group, which has as its objective the implementation of the Energy White Paper in the region.
  • NEA is represented on the Energy Leadership Council which provides strategic guidance and advice to facilitate the development of the Energy Industries in the North East
  • NEA is also on the board of Tees and Durham Energy Agency (TADEA), which manages the Energy Saving Trust Sustainable Energy Network in the region.
  • NEA is a member of the North East Domestic Energy Forum (NEDEF) and is taking forward the promotion of the North East Fuel Poverty Declaration on its behalf with regional agencies. See energy agencies, networks and activities for more details.
  • Other key partnerships include the North East Home Insulation Partnership, North East Forum on Climate Change, Voluntary Organisations Network NE, Northumberland Renewable Energy Group, County Durham Energy Roundtable, Newcastle Affordable Warmth Strategy Steering Group and the Teesdale Partnership.

Current work programme:

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:

Practical projects:

NEA is currently taking forward a number of different development projects including:

  • Easington Energy Performance Certificate initiative
  • Hartlepool 'Hotspots' initiative
  • Redcar and Cleveland affordable warmth development support for Children's Trusts
  • Wansbeck 'Low Carb Lane' initiative

Technical projects:

  • Wear Valley hard-to-treat homes project
  • Guide Post code for sustainable homes retrofit project
  • Warm Front community biomass feasibility project
  • Warm Front solar thermal trial
  • Air-source heat pump monitoring project

Policy development:

 The Regional Co-ordinator has provided recent input into the following key documents:

  • The Integrated Regional Framework for the North East of England
  • North East of England Regional Spatial Strategy to 2021
  • Better Health, Fairer Health: A strategy for 21st Century Health and Well-Being in the North East

However NEA considers the Regional Housing Strategy 'Quality places for a dynamic region' (July 2007) to contain the strongest current commitment to achieve affordable warmth in the region.

  • Affordable warmth consultancy

    Building on previous work across the region affordable warmth consultancy work is currently being taken forward with a consortia of partners in both Northumberland and Durham.

  • Regional policy matrix

    • NEA maintains a regional policy matrix for the nine regions in England, including the North East. The matrix highlights current fuel poverty commitments across a broad range of strategies and allows NEA to monitor the progress of implementation activity. The matrices are reviewed and updated bi-annually, which also provides an opportunity to map progress in commitments at a regional level to meet national fuel poverty targets. For further details contact NEA's Regional Co-ordinator.

  • Regional fuel poverty briefing

    • NEA has produced a bi-annual regional fuel poverty briefing which aims to highlight the extent of fuel poverty in England and to consider how fuel poverty commitments and activity at a regional level can support national priorities to make affordable warmth a reality for low-income and other vulnerable households.  The briefing builds upon NEA's regional policy matrix which tracks strategic policy commitments within each region as a means of identifying opportunities to promote action on affordable warmth at a regional level.  See NEA Regional Briefings.

Forthcoming events:

North East Fuel Poverty Forum

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

  • Examine policy and practical initiatives related to fuel poverty and delivering energy efficiency solutions at a local, regional, and national level
  • 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.

'Spotlight on fuel poverty' seminars

The seminar will explore opportunities for regional agencies to take a leading role in addressing the fuel poverty challenge via future integrated strategies. The seminars 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. See NEA’s Events Diary or contact NEA’s Regional Co-ordinator for details.

Contact Details:

For more information on NEA’s current activities or advice on consultancy or partnership development projects in the North East please contact Claire Green, North East Regional Co-ordinator at NEA on 0191 261 5677 or email claire.green@nea.org.uk

 

Date last updated: 17/02/2010 10:29am