North East

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Background:

NEA established its North East office presence in 2004. The North East Co-ordinator works out of NEA’s national office in Newcastle and is currently taking forward a number of key work streams as part of NEA’s broader Business Plan 2008-11 to assist in the delivery of UK Fuel Poverty Strategy priorities and to support  practical developments to provide North East households with affordable warmth.  These activities include:

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 Carbon Action Network North East (CAN-NE) and is taking forward the promotion of the North East Fuel Poverty Declaration
  • A Public Health and Fuel Poverty subgroup was established as a result of the research report Alleviating fuel poverty in order to improve health in the North East.  The subgroup is chaired by Public Health Intelligence North East and an action plan is in place to assist with the implementation of fuel poverty aims in the North East Health and Well Being Strategy Better Health Fairer Health. It feeds back to the Regional Advisory Groups - Theme 1: Economy, Culture and Environment and Theme 9: Later life: The North East will be the safest, healthiest and happiest place to grow old.
  • The North East Public Health Observatory has developed a dashboard to illustrate the incidence of fuel poverty and Excess Winter Deaths down to North East local authority level, visit http://new.nepho.org.uk/dashboard/ for more information.
  • NEA is a member of the Financial Inclusion Capability Network (FINCAN) in the North East, which operates a subgroup that addresses fuel poverty in relation to the economy in the region.
  • NEA has assisted with the development of County Durham's Fuel Poverty Action Plan, part of a wider Housing Strategy for Durham County Council.  To steer this plan, the County Durham Fuel Poverty Partnership was developed in 2011 and NEA is a partner on this group.  It will act as an ovrarching strategic group to facilitate and ensure joint working between all the major stakeholders, more information is available on the Fuel Poverty Partnership's web page..
  • Other key partnerships include the North East Biomass Forum, Voluntary Organisations Network NE,  Northumberland Renewable Energy Group, County Durham Climate Change Strategy Group, Local Authority Affordable Warmth Strategy steering groups and other networks such as the Warm Zone groups, the Teesdale Partnership and Hotspots steering groups.
In accordance with NEA's business plan, NEA continues to expand its work in the region by:
 
  • Increasing NEA’s involvement across the North East 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
  • Expansion of consultancy services for local authorities, housing providers, the health and social care sector and other organisations
  • Promotion of energy champions within organisations
  • Establishment of skills centres
  •  Further developing technical projects
  • Hosting a proactive regional Fuel Poverty Forum      

    Practical projects:

     

    NEA has recently been involved in and/or is currently supporting a number of projects including:

    • Affordable warmth development support for Children's Trusts including Gateshead, Redcar and Cleveland and the Tyne Gateway Project.
    • Calor Future of Rural Energy in England (FREE) project – working with rural communities and partners in the North East
    • Newcastle Community Energy Champions Scheme
    • Fuel poverty action plan and strategy development including County Durham, Northumberland, Sunderland, Redcar & Cleveland and Middlesbrough
    • North East Fuel Poverty Declaration
    • Performing Energy Efficiency in Schools (PEEPS), specifically for schools in Northumberland and Tyne & Wear with sessions incorporating different learning styles, drama and discussion, and role play
    • Resourcing Family Learning on Accessible Terms (REFLOAT) - an educational activity designed to work in fuel-poor Local Education Authority areas to develop resources with children and parents
    • Riverside Dene community well-being project in Newcastle-upon-Tyne
    • Tees Valley 'Hotspots', a referral initiative with agencies in Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Stockton and Redcar & Cleveland
    • Warmer Homes Better Health training for front-line health professionals in the 4 PCT cluster areas of the region – North of Tyne, South of Tyne, Durham and Darlington and Tees Valley
    • Wansbeck 'Low Carb Lane' initiative

    Technical projects

    NEA has recently been involved in and/or is supporting the following projects: 

    • Assessing biomass technologies
    • Air-source heat pump monitoring project in Blyth, Northumberland
    • Code for sustainable homes retrofit project in Guide Post, Northumberland
    • Energy audits of community buildings including Brafferton Village Hall, Darlington and Stillington Village Hall, County Durham
    • South Tyneside Homes – monitoring social aspects of low carbon technologies
    • Sustainable schools projects
    • Riverside Dene biomass district heating scheme
    • Technical advice line
    • Warm Front community biomass feasibility project
    • Warm Front solar thermal trials
    • Wear Valley hard-to-treat homes project

    Policy development:

    The NEA North East Co-ordinator has in recent years provided policy oversight and input into a range of local and regional strategies.  NEA recognises that the future focus of action to tackle fuel poverty will shift to the local level and NEA’s North East Coordinator is closely following developments in this regard.

    Affordable Warmth Consultancy

    Building on previous work across the North East affordable warmth consultancy work is currently being taken forward with partners in  Durham and Sunderland. NEA has considerable involvement in delivering the regional Public Health and Fuel Poverty ‘OGIM’ action plan.

    Regional fuel poverty briefing

    NEA produces an annual fuel poverty briefing which aims to highlight the extent of fuel poverty in England and to consider how fuel poverty commitments and activity across the North East can support national priorities to make affordable warmth a reality for low-income and other vulnerable households.  See NEA Regional Briefings.

    Forthcoming Events:

    North East Fuel Poverty Forum

    NEA hosts 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 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 North East Co-ordinator for details.

    'Spotlight on fuel poverty' seminars

    NEA hosts a Spotlight seminar each year to provide a focus for discussion of key fuel poverty issues and to bring together senior policy makers with representatives from organisations working on the ground.  The seminars are free to attend and are targeted at representatives from local authorities, community and voluntary sector organisations, the business sector, health and social care sector, and any other agencies with an interest in energy efficiency and fuel poverty. See NEA’s Events Diary or contact NEA’s North East 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 Co-ordinator
    NEA
    Elswick Suite
    Floor Six
    West One
    Forth Banks
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 3PA
    0191 261 5677 (landline)
    claire.green@nea.org.uk (email)

     

    Date last updated: 13/06/2011 12:37pm