Councillors asked to sign up to Affordable Warmth Manifesto

THAW Orkney is calling on all candidates in the forthcoming Orkney Islands Council election to back its manifesto for affordable warmth in the county.

The charity says that the ten-point plan, which is being sent to all candidates this week, will need cross-community support to ensure that the pace of energy efficiency work is increased and reaches the homes that need the most urgent work.

At the same time wider financial and practical support needs to be offered to struggling households, it says.

THAW Orkney’s 10 Steps to tackle fuel poverty in Orkney are to:

• Improve and accelerate energy efficiency work by supporting the achievement of new standards for all tenures, including through the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH) and emergency housing, and the new standards in the private-rented and owner-occupied sectors.
• Develop and deliver a local area-based scheme on an island-by-island “worst first” basis that will see “end-to-end” support from initial advice through to quality assurance of 100 per cent of installations.
• Create a gap-funding grant scheme for low-income households to install energy efficiency measures through approved schemes.
• Collaborate with or promote the Hi-Scot Credit Union to offer loans to households to fund installations where grants are unavailable/don’t fully fund measures.
• Work with landlords to require that, where there is a change in tenancy after April 1, the energy efficiency of the property will require to be improved.
• Ensure the availability of advice and support to householders, including household checks and bespoke advice on ways to save energy and improve access to affordable energy, including by switching (although restricted at moment).
• Maximise incomes, through increasing the availability of low carbon jobs in local communities and addressing poverty and inequalities through actions set out in the Fairer Scotland Action Plan, such as encouraging benefits take-up, and investigate living income/minimum income/income support developed within remote/flexible/part-time working prevalent in Orkney.
• Promote education in life skills, batch cooking, provision of a cook book for low-cost but nutritious meals for slow cooker/microwave – investigate a role for community hubs in this, along with restarting ‘Blether’ groups.
• Introduce energy-inclusive rents from social sector landlords – takes away prepayment meter issue.
• Capitalise on Orkney’s place at the centre of renewable energy and energy management innovation and how it offers the opportunity to take an unique approach to the resolution of existing fuel poverty issues and perhaps even the elimination of fuel poverty in Orkney, by increasing access to affordable energy based on community ownership and direction of distribution grid/renewables/storage/district heating focussed on direct, subsidised provision of energy.