Energy Bill: our open letter to Steve Brine MP, 13th June 2011
We are pleased that you, as our MP, have been selected to serve on the Committee dealing with this Bill. In particular, we welcome your support for action by local councils on climate change, and the proposed Warm Homes Amendment to the Bill.
Action by local councils
We ask that you sign amendments NC1 and NC2 that have been tabled for debate at the Committee Stage of the Energy Bill:
Ministers should ask the independent Committee on Climate Change to advise on what councils need to do in their patch to help meet the UK Climate Change Act targets; and ensure that climate action is a priority for councils.
We (Winchester Green Party) also suggest that councils should be obliged to:
Set local strategy
- Publish regular data on carbon emissions both from their own estate and operations, and across their area
- Publish a climate change and energy strategy and action plan, producing regular monitoring reports enabling a per capita comparison with other councils;
- Calculate, monitor, and publish annually the full costs of coping with climate change, including clearing up after extreme weather events (whether or not they are unequivocally attributable to climate change), upgrading buildings, utilities, drainage and transport systems (for example the Operation Resilience road repair programme in Hampshire),
- Undertake risk assessments and forecasts of extreme weather events and flooding, and publicise risks, and the help available, to the relevant local communities.
Lead by example
- Take action on energy efficiency and renewable energy generation on buildings they own themselves – including housing.
- Closely monitor the take-up of the Green Deal (and any other financial incentive)
- Lead on monitoring the effectiveness of the Green Deal in their area in bringing down carbon emissions
- Ensure that poorer households and those whose homes need more expensive energy efficiency measures receive help.
Use planning powers
- Achieve where possible the zero-carbon standard for all new homes before the current government deadline of 2016; and presume in favour of the adoption of the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 standard, and of terraced housing;
- Adopt planning policies which are favourable to energy-efficiency and microgeneration – for example, allowing and encouraging the installation of photovoltaic solar panels and heating panels in conservation areas (especially if velux windows have already permitted); encourage, rather than impose lengthy planning procedures for, the use of air source heat pumps as an alternative to heating oil in areas off the gas grid even in conservation areas; and allow suitable double glazing in listed properties.
Publish best practice
- Publish policies and results across local authorities (for example, Test Valley District Council is believed to be less restrictive than Winchester City Council on the latter planning point).
Extend the Green Deal
We urge you to advocate an early extension of the Green Deal finance framework to microgeneration and combined heat and power technologies (which meet ‘the golden rule’), see The Green Deal – a summary of the Government’s proposals, Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC), page 10.
When this is done we recommend that householders should be allowed to be their own Providers, if they wish to carry out the installation themselves, and be the beneficiaries of the Green Deal finance arrangement. Many households in your constituency have already pushed ahead with these initiatives at their own expense. This group should be rewarded, not disincentivised, for taking further steps in low carbon energy generation.
Make provision within the Green Deal for the economic sustainability of non-corporate Green Deal Providers
As WinACC recommends, the funding mechanisms for the Green Deal should include support for community-based organisations such as GreenWin, which could otherwise be out-competed by corporate Green Deal Providers using the Deal as a ‘loss-leader’. Independent, non-corporate, Green Deal Advisors should be able to make a living.
Action on cold rented homes
We are anxious that you have not signed Early Day Motion 653 calling for a minimum standard of energy efficiency for private rented homes and request to know your reservations about it, if any? We understand that you don’t generally sign EDMs but they are helpful to your constituents in letting us know what you think about particular issues.
We welcome the announcement by Chris Huhne of a new law introducing a minimum energy efficiency standard for rented homes from 2018, making it illegal to let private rented homes with the worst energy efficiency ratings of F and G. We also welcome the introduction of powers from 2016 allowing councils and tenants to demand energy efficiency measures from landlords.
However we are dismayed by the delays in both of these timescales and strongly urge you to argue for bringing them forward. The minimum standard should not wait until 2018 to go live. Tax breaks for landlords taking action sooner than this – in time for this winter – should be introduced. Tenants demanding energy efficiency measures from landlords should be given legal protection from eviction. The minimum standard should be raised over time, to take even more households out of fuel poverty.
No to nuclear, yes to renewables
The Energy Bill seeks to enable investment in low carbon energy supplies, and to amend existing powers in the Energy Act 2008 that enable the Secretary of State to modify a nuclear operator’s Funded Decommissioning Programme.
We urge the UK Government to follow the German and Swiss examples in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, in planning to phase nuclear out from the UK power mix. Germany has confirmed that it will shut down all of its nuclear reactors by 2022. Subsidies to the nuclear power industry must end – see the report Cut the nuclear deficit by Caroline Lucas MP, October 2010. We need a national programme of renewable energy and a nationwide energy efficiency programme.
We hope these points will be considered and look forward to your response in due course.
Yours sincerely
Alison Craig
From Alison Craig, Convenor, Winchester Green Party
Steve Brine’s reply 13/6/11
Dear Alison,
Many thanks for your email about the coalition's flagship Energy Bill, and I hope you are well.
As I said at 2nd Reading, I am very excited about this Bill which has the potential to be truly transformative through its Green Deal. This is something I campaigned for at the election, was centre-stage in the Conservative manifesto and I was delighted to see it in the coalition agreement and now before us as Government legislation.
You can view my 2nd Reading speech via; http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2011-05-10a.1053.0&s=speaker%3A24901#g1092.2
And you can view a short exchange I had with SoS Chris Huhne when he announced the Government will accept the fourth carbon budget; my intention was to draw from him his intentions when it comes to the scale of our ambition in the Energy Bill legislation; http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2011-05-17a.176.0&s=speaker%3A24901#g187.4 I have a deep personal commitment to this agenda and to making sure this Bill gets onto the statute book. It goes without saying I want it to be a success and I will be working hard with colleagues in committee (and of course thereafter) to ensure that happens. As you can imagine, I am receiving lots of detailed briefings from a wide-range of organisations about the Bill in addition to some excellent contact from constituents. It is all being read and carefully considered as you would expect. As you know I am working closely with WinACC (and in particular the GreenWin organisation) which will be central in delivering the Green Deal across the Winchester District going forward. As soon as the Bill is over I will be coordinating a meeting for GreenWin with the Minister through Rob Veck. You can track the Bill's progress via www.greenwinchester.com and the related links from that page. With kind regards Steve Brine
