Findings from National Energy Action’s local authority survey
Our Local Authority Co-ordinator, Laura, shares the findings of our survey and what support local authorities need to tackle fuel poverty on the ground.
Earlier this year, National Energy Action launched a survey of local authorities across the UK. The survey invited local authority staff to share their experiences responding to the energy crisis over the last two years, attempting to gain a better understanding of the ‘state of play’ in the many roles they play. We had a fantastic response, with 146 authorities providing feedback, from all over the country. From authorities in Yorkshire and the Humber down to London and across to Wales, with local and combined authorities and those covering rural and urban environments all represented.
Unsurprisingly, the responses highlighted the multitude of ways local authorities are supporting people struggling to stay warm in their homes and out of debt. The majority of respondents (46%) reported energy efficiency/retrofit as their main area of expertise, with cost of living (34%) and housing/homelessness (34%) also featuring heavily. Other participants worked across debt and financial services, advice, social care, education, children’s services and corporate policy.
Topics explored included the experience of supporting residents with the rising cost of living, and the successes and complexities of administering a range of government-funded energy efficiency support schemes. The survey considered how local authorities working with landlords to improve conditions within the private rented sector and the current and potential opportunities for greater partnership and collaboration.
The survey confirmed that local authority officers are dealing not only with an increase in the scale of household needs in the last two years (67%) but even greater complexity of the need for those requiring support (51%).
Seventy-one percent of respondents noticed changes in the groups of people experiencing fuel poverty and related vulnerability, with an increasing number of working adults and those in the private rented sector.
To address this complexity clear strategy will be required, and to be successful that strategy must be rooted in the specific needs of each local authority’s population. Yet only 55% of respondents said that their authority has a fuel poverty strategy or equivalent.
So what does a good fuel poverty strategy look like?
At National Energy Action we have had the privilege of supporting a number of local authorities through the process of strategy creation and action planning. While each strategy and action plan has been different, there have been common components to all:
1. Rooted in partnership and shared accountability. Fuel poverty and the methods to address it will require the expertise and collaboration of a range of partners both across and outside of the authority’s functions. Partnerships can build a richer picture of the nature and extent of fuel poverty in the local setting.
2. Acknowledges its place alongside the other strategic aims of the authority and its external partners. Addressing fuel poverty will need effort across various areas of local authority work. Local authorities will need to consider energy efficiency and retrofit of housing stock, income maximisation and emergency financial support, as well as addressing the health impacts of living in a cold home. This will cover the strategy and delivery plans of several departments and working with other partners including those within health and the local Integrated Care System.
3. Is guided by available data and lived experience. Good strategies use data to establish who is being reached – and more importantly who is not. Data can identify marginalised and at-risk groups within localities, and give a clear indication of the current progress on work to retrofit housing stock and where more needs to be done. However, data is not enough and it should be supplemented with the views of people with lived experience of fuel poverty. Co-production as opposed to consultation realises the benefit of lived experience involvement right from the beginning of the strategy development process.
4. Targets support towards the most vulnerable households. At National Energy Action we prioritise households on the lowest incomes and in the least energy efficient homes. We believe this ‘worst first’ approach is a litmus test for a just transition to decarbonisation. Of the survey respondents who had fuel poverty strategies, 93% reported that their strategy was targeted towards people on low incomes. 60% said they targeted people with specific health conditions. Other groups mentioned by respondents included carers, older adults, Gypsy and Traveller communities, households with English as an additional language, and those living in properties with a poor energy efficiency rating.
5. Seeks to balance immediate crisis support with investment in technology and innovation. Crisis support is vital for the most vulnerable households, many of whom are living with unprecedented levels of debt in the energy market and, in some cases, trying to work with negative budgets. But fuel poverty is not only about income and the fluctuating cost of energy but also about the energy efficiency of our homes. Ensuring minimum standards in the fabric of our housing stock, combined with investment in energy efficiency innovations can support vulnerable customers and facilitate a more efficient energy system for the long-term.
6. Is action led. Content is important, but any fuel poverty strategy becomes irrelevant without clear actions, owners of those actions and a clearly stated group or board that ensures monitoring and progress.
7. Political prioritisation. For strategy to turn into action it needs to have political prioritisation and stewardship. Local elected officials can be integral allies in both holding partnerships together and ensuring key components of the strategy are communicated authority wide, resourced and delivered.
If you are in the process of creating your own fuel poverty strategy or refreshing an existing strategy and would like support, please contact our Local Authority Co-ordinator, Laura Beesley laura.beesley@nea.org.uk, to discuss how we may be able to help.