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Warmth fund application will cover less than a tenth of county’s need
18/11/2021
Application made for £3.37million to “provide energy-saving home retrofit measures for those most in need and unable to pay”
by Andy Mitchell, Local Democracy Reporter
The scale of central government cash available to keep warm the homes of Oxfordshire residents in fuel poverty has been criticised.
Councillor Glynis Phillips (Lab, Barton, Sandhills & Risinghurst) expressed “disappointment about the government’s commitment” to its Sustainable Warmth competition, a £350million fund that councils can attempt to access to pay for energy efficient upgrades.
Oxfordshire County Council has applied for £3.37million to “provide energy-saving home retrofit measures for those most in need and unable to pay”.
Bill Cotton, corporate director for environment and place at Oxfordshire County Council, said more than 300 homes in fuel poverty would benefit if the funding is secured.
“We are focusing on electric heating, solar PV and the park homes sector, quite often people who are very vulnerable, and also looking at insulation for traditionally-fit houses,” he said.
Councillor Duncan Enright (Lab, Witney North & East), speaking in the absence of fellow cabinet member Councillor Dr Pete Sudbury, said: “We hold twin priorities of climate justice and social justice and this bid, if successful, will advance both of those.
“We want to see a just transition to a zero-carbon future and this is exactly the kind of initiative that we need so we are hopeful of succeeding in this bid.”
However, a council report states that a quarter of carbon emissions in Oxfordshire are residential and that 4,000 “large scale” retrofits of private properties will be required to make the county net zero in terms of carbon by 2050.
It estimates that £1.5billion will be required between now and 2030 to fund such work and the installation of heat pumps to meet targets with Cllr Phillips making the case for more help.
“We have 4,000 properties that require this work,” she said.
“Because of the scale of central government’s ambition, if we are successful we will only be able to retrofit 310 so I urge national government to invest even more in the Sustainable Warmth Fund.”
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam