Working with Town and Community Councils. to Tackle Rural Fuel Poverty

Transcription

1 Working with Town and Community Councils to Tackle Rural Fuel Poverty

2 NEA Cymru Room 4E, 4 th Floor Transport House 1 Cathedral Road Cardiff CF11 9HA info@nea.org.uk March 2015 NEA is an independent charity, Registration Number: Company limited by guarantee. Registered in England and Wales Number: We wish to acknowledge the support of Calor Gas in the production of this document. This publication has been produced by NEA Cymru and therefore the views and opinions contained are by NEA Cymru and not necessarily of the sponsor. National Energy Action Cymru is the national charity campaigning for warm homes and to put an end to fuel poverty in Wales. 2

3 Contents Introduction 4 Background to project 4 Rural Community Council Project 4 Abergwili Survey Results 5 Next Steps for Abergwili 6 Key Messages 6 Allowing time for the project to develop 7 Local knowledge 7 Different perspectives among different councillors 7 Timing 8 Adapting to the local context 8 Joint work with other organisations 8 Links with the Rural Development Plan 9 Further Reading 9 Acknowledgements 9 3

4 Introduction This short report has been written to share NEA Cymru s experiences of working with a rural community council to tackle local fuel poverty share key findings on fuel poverty in Abergwili that may also have relevance to other community councils with a similar demographic encourage and offer guidance to rural town and community councils considering addressing fuel poverty for local residents encourage other organisations to work with town and community councils to take forward local action on fuel poverty, particularly in rural off-gas areas, and give guidance on considerations when taking this kind of approach demonstrate to national stakeholders the role that town and community councils can play in addressing rural fuel poverty Background to project Calor s FREE (Future of Rural Energy in Europe) Programme operated between 2010 and 2013 to assist fuel poor households in off-grid rural communities across the UK. It helped individual households reduce their energy consumption and encouraged local communities to work together to promote best practice in energy efficiency and carbon reduction, with the overall aim of reducing levels of fuel poverty in off-grid areas. In Wales, the programme was known as the Rural Welsh Energy Advisorship Programme and incorporated a number of different aspects including supporting community advisors in off gas areas with high levels of fuel poverty, holding roundtable discussions with national stakeholders, distribution of an advice pack, training for community advisors and housing association staff, community events and Assembly Member receptions. A report was written at the end of the project, summarising the key findings and making recommendations for taking action on rural off-gas fuel poverty. As part of the policy research aspect of the project, stakeholders and advisors suggested that increased links should be facilitated locally, such as with local community and town councils and local strategic plans. Following on from the project, NEA Cymru held a roundtable discussion with key stakeholders to consider how the findings of the FREE project could be incorporated in the Welsh Government s Rural Development Plan A key recommendation that came out of discussions was that community rural councils were a valuable resource that could be brought on board to drive forward action on rural fuel poverty on a local level. Rural Community Council Project Taking the recommendations from the first four years of our work with Calor into consideration, alongside the experiences of NEA colleagues in England who had worked with ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England) to incorporate rural community councils in their FREE work, NEA Cymru worked with Calor to agree a programme of activity for a fifth year of partnership working, which focussed on rural community councils in Wales. We consulted with One Voice Wales, the umbrella organisations for town and community councils in Wales, to develop a project that would support a rural town or community council to address local fuel poverty. 4

5 All town and community councils on One Voice Wales network were invited to submit an expression of interest and Abergwili Community Council were selected as the pilot area due to the off-gas rural demographic served by the council and above average levels of fuel poverty. No properties in Abergwili currently have access to mains gas, despite a pipeline running near the ward. The most recent Welsh Government figures, from 2004, indicate that 13.5% to 14.7% of households in Abergwili were in fuel poverty 1 at the time, compared to a national average of 11% of Welsh homes in fuel poverty in The current national average is 30% of Welsh households in fuel poverty so, if Abergwili has remained above the national average, over a third of households are likely to be in fuel poverty. NEA Cymru met with Abergwili community council to discuss what support they wanted from us. Although the councillors had a good knowledge of their local area, they felt that rather than deciding themselves what sort of activity residents would benefit from, they would rather carry out a survey of residents, through door-to-door knocking, to find out what people s experiences of keeping warm and paying for energy were and to get a steer what would be the best way that the community council could help residents. They asked NEA to support them with this and for basic fuel poverty training to equip them for the door-knocking exercise so they felt better informed and prepared for questions. NEA also agreed to prepare an information leaflet to be distributed with the survey, to ensure that all households received some basic information on things they could do to reduce their energy bills and keep warm and further sources of help. NEA developed a survey and information leaflet in English and Welsh, gave the councillors a two hour training session free of charge and then analysed survey results to prepare a recommendation report for councillors for the next steps they could take to help residents. Abergwili Survey Results Councillors visited 180 of the 707 homes in Abergwili and surveys were returned by 61 of these. The results of these showed that oil was the main fuel used (over 75% of those responding) and that none of those responding used renewable technologies for space or water heating. 79% claimed that they could usually keep their homes comfortably warm however those carrying out the door knocking reported separately that many of the householders saying this, did actually have cold homes when visited and some even had damp on the walls. Residents just didn t see themselves as having a problem, even if they would have fitted into the government definition of fuel poverty and their homes were below recommended temperatures for maintaining health. Of those who said they could not keep comfortably warm, the cost of heating was given as a reason by all but 1 respondent, with 5 of these adding that it would not be possible to heat their homes to a comfortable standard even if finances were not an issue, due to reasons such as lack of central heating or poor insulation. When asked what they had done since moving into their property to make bills more affordable, the most commonly selected responses were installation or top up of loft insulation (63.9%) and installation of wall insulation either cavity or solid wall (60.7%). A number of respondents lived in council owned properties and some commented how pleased they were with improvements the council had made to their properties. However, survey responses suggested that these households perhaps did 1 Fuel poverty is defined as the need to spend more than 10% of household income to achieve an adequate level of warmth 5

6 not realise they could take action to further lower bills through methods like switching supplier, bulk buying fuel or switching payment method. Instead, when they were asked what they had done, they just dismissed the question by saying the council had made improvements for them. This suggests an opportunity for further education, with an awareness campaign focussed on simple things people can do to reduce their fuel bills or increase their income, even if they do not own their own home. When asked what their biggest issue was in terms of heating their home or paying their bills, the cost of fuel was the most common issue (39.3% of those responding), followed by low income (23%). Nobody had an issue accessing a paypoint to top up their meter. We did not ask residents what payment method they used but it is possible that few, if any, respondents may use a prepayment meter in this area. When asked how the community council could best help the local community reduce their energy bills, those who responded showed a clear interest in councillors investigating the possibility of mains gas extension (36.1%). There were also high levels of interest in renewable technologies (27.9%), affordable warmth training for community champions (27.9%), written information on local help (24.6%) and setting up bulk buy schemes for fuel (24.6%). When asked what topics they would like the community council to provide more information on, the most popular answers were the Warm Homes Discount (23%), renewable technologies (18%) and benefits entitlement checks (16.4%). Next Steps for Abergwili Abergwili Community Council is now considering how it can act on the findings of the survey. NEA Cymru has recommended they focus on four key priorities: Raise awareness of how residents can make their bills more affordable even without improving energy efficiency, for example through the Warm Homes Discount, switching supplier and benefits entitlement checks. Investigate setting up bulk buy schemes to reduce the cost of fuel buying. These should be supported by payment plans through the local Credit Union to help residents budget for fuel deliveries. Investigate putting renewable technologies on community buildings or on residents homes through share offers Investigate extension of the mains gas network to reduce the cost of heating homes and address issues around handling fuel, such as oil jerry-cans. These recommendations are personalised to Abergwili but may also be relevant for town and community councils in areas with a similar demographic. Key Messages This project was the first occasion NEA Cymru had worked with town or community councils. We took some key lessons from the experience we would wish to share with other organisations looking to tackle fuel poverty through working with their town or community council. 6

7 Allowing time for the project to develop Councils were given a fortnight to submit initial expressions of interest, so that work could begin before the summer recess, but this tight timescale limited the number of town and community councils who were able to put an application together in time. Although this may not be the case in all areas, in Abergwili few of the councillors were on and so agreement of further action, including approving information leaflets, arranging training and committing to leaflet deliveries, tended to only happen in the monthly meetings. This meant that even if a suggestion was actioned the day after a meeting, it might still take a month before it could be approved by other councillors and carried out. In addition, councillors had to fit their council commitments in around their day jobs, which could make it difficult to find meeting times that suited all. In Abergwili, meetings are held in the evenings but this made it harder to get other officials to attend, such as county council officers. The summer recess caused a pause in activity, as did other holidays to a lesser extent. We had hoped that more councillors would take part in the leaflet drop but some of those who were willing to help had extended holidays abroad during the leafleting period, and so could not take part within the project timescales, meaning fewer residents were reached. Local knowledge NEA Cymru gave a presentation to Abergwili council at the start of the project to give them a background to the issue of fuel poverty, ideas for the kinds of action they could take forward and to share information on local fuel poverty. It was clear at this meeting that the councillors had an excellent knowledge of local fuel use, bulk buy schemes, geography and housing. The survey distribution was organised by one of the councillors who could use his local knowledge to bring community volunteers on board and target the villages where the most surveys could be distributed in the shortest time. In addition, he was able to give NEA Cymru some qualitative background information to illuminate the answers given on the surveys, based on his local knowledge and conversations on the door. Despite this wealth of local knowledge, NEA Cymru was surprised that the councillors wanted to carry out the local survey before deciding on a course of action to help residents, indicating a lack of confidence that they understood local residents needs sufficiently to take forward activity immediately and that they were aware of where gaps in their knowledge lay. Different perspectives among different councillors Although those attending the initial meeting where the decision was made to carry out a survey seemed unanimous that this was the course of action they wanted to take, other councillors who were not present at the meeting or were perhaps less vocal, later expressed concern about taking part in the exercise. Reasons for not wanting to take part varied from lack of confidence or lack of time to not being comfortable approaching neighbours in this way. This led to a drop out in those who were willing to participate, limiting the number of households that could be reached. In addition, although there had been initial enthusiasm for submitting the expression of interest to take part in the project, this enthusiasm waned among some councillors who subsequently saw other issues as a higher priority. Looking beyond this project, local meetings attracted greater attendance when people saw the direct relevance to their lives, and those of their neighbours. Councillors were dedicated to helping residents of the ward but had to understand the benefit of the work they were being asked to undertake to fully get on 7

8 board. It is important that any work to address fuel poverty through town and community councils really highlights how it will improve the lives of local people through reduced bills, warmer homes and improved health. This also came through on survey responses when residents were asked if they had any other comments, and a high number raised local issues which were not related to fuel poverty. Timing The door knocking exercise in Abergwili was carried out in December and early January. Although it was cold at the time, oil prices were low, reducing people s concerns about affording heating. In NEA s wider experience, fewer people worry about the cold and energy bills at times of the year when the heating isn t needed and so are less receptive to fuel poverty messages at certain times of year. A similar door knocking exercise that took place in Ceredigion as part of the Rural Welsh Energy Advisorship Programme had a very good reception from local residents, which the organiser partly accredited to carrying out the exercise on a particularly cold day. Adapting to the local context Although we are sharing Abergwili s experiences, their course of action will not be appropriate for all rural areas. The advantage of working with the town or community council is that organisations can tap into the local expertise through the councillors to tailor a programme that works in that particular locality. For example, in some communities, as in Abergwili, Welsh will be the main language used and so all materials should be available bilingually. There may also be additional resource available in that area that an external organisation might not be aware of. In Abergwili, one councillor was active within the organisation Renew Wales and was able to dedicate additional days to supporting the project through his role with Renew Wales and could enlist colleagues at Carmarthenshire Energy Agency to increase the number of people to help with the door knocking. An external organisation might have a fixed idea of what should be done but the town or community council may have different ideas, which are likely to be more successful, as they should be based on experience of that particular community. NEA Cymru had not considered a survey as an action that the councillors would want to take forward under the project but adapted our ideas to fit in with the need. However, one common feature of most town and community councils is likely to be a limited budget. Anyone wishing to work with these councils should factor in a pot of money to help with printing, translation, postage and other upfront costs. Joint work with other organisations One of the key recommendations from the survey analysis that councillors were keen to take forward was further investigation into the possibility of extension of the mains gas network into Abergwili. It emerged that councillors had made approaches on this in the past but had not had much success. The councillors felt that the survey results produced by NEA would give them further evidence for their case and were enthused to renew their efforts in this area as it had been over two years since they last applied for an extension. They also appreciated that NEA was able to provide personal contacts for organisations who might be able to help support their application to improve their chances of success. NEA also provided other personal contacts to take forward the other recommendations, which should again help councillors take action rather than recognising the needs but not know what to do. By combining NEA s expertise and 8

9 contacts within other organisations with their local knowledge, the community council will now be able to take forward action with a new, and hopefully more successful, approach. Links with the Rural Development Plan The Welsh Government s Rural Development Plan is subject to six priorities, including promoting social inclusion, poverty reduction and economic development in rural areas. As fuel poverty is twice as prevalent in rural areas as urban areas, 2 addressing rural fuel poverty should be a key element of enacting the Rural Development Plan locally. We recommend that Local Action Groups (LAGs) engage rural community councils in the preparation of their Local Development Strategies, particularly to support a community based approach to addressing rural fuel poverty, which is more likely to build momentum and engage people than trying to approach households on an individual basis. We also feel that support for a network of rural community councils, mirroring ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England), would support locally based organisations, including those in LAGs, to engage rural community councils in their work to tackle fuel poverty. Our response to the Rural Development Plan consultation in February 2014 gives further detail as to how we think rural fuel poverty could be tackled under this framework. We believe that rural town and community councils could be valued partners in driving these actions forward. Further Reading For further resources for town and community councils and other organisations looking to take forward action on rural fuel poverty, we suggest: - Findings of the Rural Welsh Energy Advisorship Programme, available on the NEA website at - Local Fuel Poverty Maps for Wales, available on the Welsh Government website Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following for their support of this project: Calor Abergwili Community Council One Voice Wales Renew Wales Carmarthenshire Energy Agency 2 Living in Wales 2008: Fuel Poverty, Welsh Assembly Government, November