Agenda item

John Kolm-Murray, Seasonal Health and Affordable Warmth Co-ordinator, presented an introductory briefing paper on Community Energy which included the following points:

·        In the past, fuel poverty was defined as the situation whereby a household was required to spend 10% or more of their total household income to maintain an adequate level of warmth. This was known as the 10% definition.

·        In 2004, the Mayor of London defined fuel poverty as the need to spend more than 10% of total household income after housing costs (rent or mortgage and council tax) and this was the definition used by the council.

·        The government had redefined fuel poverty as the situation whereby a household had below 60% of the median income, after housing costs, combined with a fuel bill higher than the median. This would be the definition used in the 2014 Fuel Poverty Strategy. The bill threshold was set at the median which meant a strong bias against smaller homes. This definition was the Low Income High Costs definition.

·        According to the 10% definition, fuel poverty in Islington stood at 8.9% in 2012.

·        According to the Low Income High Costs definition, fuel poverty in Islington stood at 7.4% in 2012.

·        Without extensive data on incomes it was difficult to estimate levels of fuel poverty according to the 10% After Housing Costs definition. An analysis by the GLA completed in 2012, which took housing costs into account, suggested that six Islington wards were in the worst quintile for fuel poverty in London, with Finsbury Park in the worst 4%.

·        Between 2010 and the first quarter of 2014/15, energy efficiency improvements were made in over 19,600 Islington homes. This included 3,380 boiler replacements or installations and around 10,500 loft, cavity wall and solid wall insulations. The main barrier to installing solid wall insulations was cost with the average cost per property being £8,000. Also, if there were damp issues in a property solid wall insulation could make them worse, internal insulations reduced the size of a property and installing them caused disruption to the residents. It had been undertaken on the Holly Park Estate last year and was funded by Energy Company Obligation (ECO) funding. It could save up to £200 on fuel bill savings for each household. It had also been undertaken in Neptune House.

·        In 2012, the Bunhill Energy Centre started providing cheaper, greener heat to over 700 homes in the south of the borough.

·        In 2013/14, the council secured over 1,000 payments of £135 to vulnerable residents through the country’s first Warm Home Discount referral programme.

·        Seasonal Health Intervention Network (SHINE) had assisted almost 6,900 vulnerable residents since December 2010.

·        Environmental Health Officers had taken action on a significant number of excess cold hazards.

·        In 2014/15, the council expected to make energy efficiency improvements to over 2,200 homes. These would include free boiler replacements for low income and vulnerable private tenants and owner-occupiers, external solid wall insulation for more than 300 high rise flats and over 560 boiler upgrades, 800 Energy Doctor in the Home visits to provide in-home advice and install smaller energy efficiency measures, at least 500 more Warm Home Discounts of £140 would be secured and at least 200 Crisis Fuel Payments would be made through the Resident Support Scheme.

·        The health impacts of fuel poverty had been well established. Older people, those suffering from long-term health conditions and low income families with young children were at greatest risk. Cold housing was believed to be the greatest single contributing factor to excess winter deaths and hospital admissions.

·        Between 2007 and 2012, there was an average of 50 excess winter deaths in Islington, with little statistical difference from the England average. Analysis of data from emergency winter hospital admissions from 2008/09 to the Whittington Hospital suggested that there were around 6.6 admissions for each death.

·        SHINE targeted those most at risk of cold homes and their associated health problems and worked with professionals across the housing, health, social care and voluntary sector to identify and assist. In addition to addressing high energy bills it also addressed other factors such as falls risk, social isolation and fire risks.

·        Since the demise of the taxpayer-funded Warm Front programme in 2013 all national affordable warmth interventions had been funded through supplier obligations. There was no longer Treasury funding for fuel poverty programmes.

·        A 2012 analysis by Islington and Westminster councils showed that London only received around a third of the supplier obligation funding that its population warranted.

·        The Energy Bill Revolution campaign, supported by Islington Council, called for carbon tax revenue to be used to fund energy efficiency improvements for fuel poor homes.

·        Winter Fuel Payment was a universal benefit to all households with members over the age of 62, which equated to £200 per annum for those aged 62-79 and £300 for those aged 80 or over.

·        Cold Weather Payments were £25 payments to all those on certain means-tested benefits for each seven-day period where the temperature dropped below 0°C.

·        The Warm Home Discount was currently a £140 yearly payment. Pensioners on Pension Credit received the payment automatically (core group) whilst certain others (broader group) had to apply. Suppliers could define eligibility for their broader group and some medium-sized suppliers did not have a broader group. Payment was made directly to suppliers but numbers of broader group recipients were limited.

·        During summer 2014, the government had been consulting on a new fuel poverty strategy and accompanying regulations. These would remove the target set in 2001 to eradicate fuel poverty by 2016 and instead set minimum energy efficiency standards, requiring that no fuel poor households be living in a home below an energy efficiency SAP Band C by 2030, ‘where reasonably practicable’. It also proposed a system of mandated referrals from health professionals which permitted them to prescribe energy efficiency improvements in the same way that other health interventions such as medication or operations were prescribed and that this should be consistent across the country.

·        In 2014, the government consulted on setting minimum standards for energy efficiency in the private rented sector, banning landlords from letting out properties below SAP Band E efficiency standards rating from 2020. Although this would remove the worst homes from the market, most poor households were in SAP Bands E to C.

·        The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) was currently drafting guidance on reducing excess winter deaths and illness through addressing cold homes. The draft guidance suggested that NICE would recommend that Health and Wellbeing Boards commission services similar to Islington SHINE and that a number of stakeholders took action to link affordable warmth and health.

·        Rising fuel bills meant the proportion of the population in fuel debt increased.

·        The latest available data showed that electricity debt rose by 66% in real terms between 2003 and 2011 and gas debt rose by 83%. Whilst disconnections for debt were now rare, particularly during the winter, this appeared to be largely due to a growing number of fuel poor households being on prepayment rather than standard meters. These people were at greater risk of self-disconnection and fuel poverty linked health problems.

·        Utilita was a company which provided emergency and friendly credit and would not disconnect people between 10pm and 7am.

·        Islington established an emergency reconnection fund in 2013 through SHINE and had asked the regulator, Ofgem, on a number of occasions to investigate the incidence of self-disconnection and address the problem.

·        The use of pre-payment meters was discussed. Whilst they were more expensive than direct debit payments, many people were satisfied with them and used them to help them budget. In addition, those in fuel poverty did not always have a bank account or trust banks or energy suppliers. Smart metering could be useful and would collect levels of usage; however, it could also remotely switch people to prepayments.

·        The councils’ affordable warmth advisors and members of the Islington Advice Alliance all assisted customers to access debt relief and repayment plans. In 2013/14, advisors secured over £18,000 of debt relief from suppliers’ trust funds and it was anticipated that this amount would be exceeded in 2014/15. There were strict criteria for debt relief from supplier’s funds and poor budgeting was unlikely to result in debt relief.

·        The SHINE hub was working with Islington’s Citizens Advice Bureau Fit Money project to refer indebted residents for financial capability training.

RESOLVED:

1)     That the SID be agreed subject to the following amendment:

·        The overall aim of the review be amended to read, “To explore and understand the impact of fuel poverty on households, existing policies and strategies to alleviate both in the short and long term and the opportunities for Islington to provide assistance and support to our residents”.

2)     That the evidence be noted.

3)     That a training session be set up for all councillors to provide more information about fuel poverty.

4)     That a further evidence session considers the retail side of fuel poverty and 

      Energy UK and an energy supplier be invited to attend to give evidence.