Presented By:Aisha Stewart and Hannah Spungin
Minutes:
Alex Minshull, Climate Change Manager BCC, set
the context for the following two items and reported that both fuel
poverty and climate change were long standing problems and although
good progress had been made in some areas, there was no simple fix
and action was required by a lot of agencies across the city as
well as changes in policies at national government
level. He confirmed that there were
also risks associated by competing pressures and it was important
to ensure that action to improve one area would not make things
worse in another area. He also drew
attention to BCC initiatives, such as expanding heat networks in
the city and the City Leap project, a joint venture with the
private sector to support the delivery of the target for Bristol to
be carbon neutral by 2030.
- Presentation by Aisha
Stewart and Hannah Spungin
HS/AS gave a presentation summarised as
follows:
- unhealthy homes caused problems for
people of all ages;
- a lot of cost was taken by NHS as
people often ended up in hospital, but it was a multi-agency
problem and not just the responsibility of the health sector;
- the improvement of people’s
homes was essential to keep people out of hospital;
- improving energy efficiency of homes
would reduce poverty as well as reducing CO2;
- a One City Plan approach had been
taken to the Fuel Poverty Action Plan with governance by the Health
and Wellbeing Board and endorsement being support from the
Environment Sustainability Board and Homes and Communities
Board;
- the action plan had been delayed by
COVID 19 and would now be completed in the autumn so it would be in
place for winter;
- actions were both short term and
longer term “Just energy transition” – needs to
link to decarbonisation of heat plan;
- technology was constantly changing
and so the plan needed to be updated accordingly;
- one of the joint projects –
Warmer Homes Advice and Money (WHAM):
- WHAM was a partnership between
Bristol City Council and the Centre for Sustainable Energy; We
Care; Talking Money; Citizens Advice and Bristol Energy
Networks.
- WHAM gave people one point of
contact for advice on reducing financial, food and fuel
poverty;
- There is an online referral form and
Freephone number.
- discussion topics
- work being undertaken by
organisations;
- new build
work? Housing Associations?
- does FP
factor into any of the programs you are currently doing?
- does FP
factor into any of the decision making within your
organisation?
- were you
aware of the government target of EPC C by 2030 for Fuel Poor
Homes?
- planned improvement works and Energy
Efficiency
- do you
consider homeowners bills when planning energy efficiency or
sustainable energy work?
- support for employees and tenants
- are you
aware of support services for people in Fuel Poverty in
Bristol?
- what
would be a useful resource?
- Ask of BHCB:
- Provide information on
any current actions your organisation is doing around fuel
poverty/energy efficiency improvements;
- Consider any actions
your organisation could take to prevent or alleviate fuel poverty
or ensure a just transition;
- Feedback & input on
the draft of the action plan;
- “No Cold Homes Group” – speak to
your organisation about being included in this group.
Supporting documents: