Starting the retrofit revolution in Kirklees
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| Cllr Cooper visiting Energiesprong homes in Nottingham |
The Council has made a start on retrofitting its own housing stock. This is positive but what is lacking is a financially sustainable model, which can deliver improvement to homes at scale to a zero-energy standard. Our proposal based on the Energiesprong (energy leap) model addresses this and provides a way of building the capacity and capability to deliver for owner occupiers and the wider housing sector.
Energiesprong work with local Councils on developing a programme to deliver warmer homes through a retrofit programme delivering a home which is net zero energy, meaning it generates the total amount of energy required for its heating, hot water and electrical appliances. It also provides superior indoor comfort. This is achieved using prefabricated facades, insulated rooftops with solar panels, smart heating, and ventilation and cooling installations. A refurbishment comes with a long-year performance warranty on both the indoor climate and the energy performance for up to 40 years. A complete home makeover can be completed in as little as a day!
Energiesprong are not a contractor themselves but work with councils to help procure contractors to deliver to the Energiesprong specification.
Councils such as Nottingham, Exeter and a number of London Boroughs are already working together on Energiesprong projects as part of the Retrofit Accelerator Homes Investment Partnership. They share best practice and expertise and have been successful in a number of funding bids to government drawing in millions to support the development of the Energiesprong model.
How much does it cost?
The cost for an initial 50 properties would be around £85,000/property. The expectation is that for future rounds of properties that this would reduce to around £55,000/property as economies of scale are realised.
How is it paid for?
There is some initial outlay for setting up the Energiesprong approach through the Housing Revenue Account but as the capital costs come down the expectation is that it would become self-financing through lower maintenance and servicing costs e.g., no gas safety checks, lower maintenance etc and through charging a comfort charge to the tenant. Energiesprong guarantee that the fuel bill that the tenants pay plus the comfort charge will be less than they were paying in energy costs for their home before refurbishment.
https://www.energiesprong.uk/
https://www.energiesprong.uk/newspage/innovation-partnership-why-a-new-approach-to-retrofit-procurement-is-key-to-net-zero
https://www.ukgbc.org/news/nottingham-first-to-adopt-revolutionary-energiesprong-housing-approach/
Passivhaus or equivalent as standard on all Council new build projects
5 years after the all party Passivhaus group recommended that the Council build its new developments to the passivhaus standard Kirklees is now doing a pilot project on 12 houses. The lack of a policy on the standard for new build housing in Kirklees at a time when we ought to be leading by example is shameful. The purpose of the pilot has not been explained. What can be learnt by building in Kirklees that can’t be learnt from more progressive Councils in other parts of the country such as Exeter City Council? The lack of a policy is expensive as one-off projects like Kirklees passivhaus pilot come at a cost premium. Having a high energy efficiency standard means developers can invest in skills locally, build capacity and the capability to deliver to the passivhaus standard or equivalent. We should also be seeking funding from the West Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority to help pay for the 4% uplift in costs through gainshare or other regional funding sources.
https://www.apse.org.uk/apse/index.cfm/news/articles/20181/passivhaus-exeter-city-council-leading-by-example/#
Solar PV Panels on all Council new build projects as standard
With rising energy prices we need to find ways of reducing energy demand in the home. So, as well as ‘fabric first’ insulation measures we also should use renewables as much as possible on site.
Funding could be sought from Combined Authority Gainshare funding but failing that HRA funds could be utilised to achieve this.
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| Cllr Karen Allison |
Engaging the community in climate action Tackling climate change has got to be made real to local people. Involving people in positive projects helps give people a sense of well being and not just thinking they are at the mercy of decisions by national governments and decisions at global climate summits.
We can help them feel empowered and involved in addressing the threat to all our futures. For the next 2 years through the Place partnerships, we wish to support a range of community lead projects to address climate change.
This could be improving the energy efficiency of public buildings, tree planting, projects to support biodiversity and nature-based flood prevention measures.
Learning from others
Kirklees needs to approach its role in addressing climate change with humility. We frequently hear from Labour Cabinet members about how we are ‘the best’ in this policy area. We aren’t. There are positive things happening on the climate agenda in Kirklees but we are not forerunners or innovators in addressing climate change. The lack of a climate action plan lead to the Council getting a 0% rating from Climate Emergency UK earlier this year. Joining the Global Covenant of Mayors would provide us with valuable insight and support form the international community of local and regional authorities addressing climate change. It works to provide value to participating councils by mobilizing the critical financing and technical assistance that members require to access investment. The Global Covenant of Mayors ensures that signatories are continuously supported in their efforts. Cities receive step-by-step guidance and have access to tools, materials, and a dedicated regional/national helpdesk.
https://www.globalcovenantofmayors.org/
Renewable energy installations in schools
The pupils of today are the citizens of the tomorrow. Showing them that renewable energy helps power their school be it from wind, solar or other renewables is a positive for learning and gives a demonstration of hope for a better future.
For this scheme we will seek funding through a Community Municipal Investment/ Climate Bond issue. These have been successful in West Berkshire Council and the London Borough of Islington and provide a return to community investors.
https://info.westberks.gov.uk/wbcmi
https://www.abundanceinvestment.com/invest-now/municipal-investments
Mobilising the community to help tackle the cost of living crisis
The massive hike in energy bills caused in large part by our dependence on fossil fuels is something that Kirklees Council needs to mobilise itself to address, and a single budget amendment is not the way to do that. There are things we can do though and establishing a fuel poverty fund to help improve the energy efficiency of people living in cold homes in the owner occupied and private sector. We will seek initially to fund this through a charitable trust that the council will establish and seek contributions too through a variety of methods including an appeal through the Council Tax mailing.
Similar charitable trusts have been established in other parts of the country and have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds. It has initially been tried in rich Council areas in the south of England but it is worth trying here to bolster and support work being done on broader poverty issues by a range of third sector organisations.
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| Cllr Sue Lee-Richards |
Supporting active travel We lack a programme to support the development of a protected cycleway network in Kirklees. This proposal will kick start that programme and we would push for a reprioritisation of the West Yorkshire Transport Fund away from road building and road widening projects.
Safer streets for all
Those of us who have tried to get traffic calming to make people feel safer in their communities from speeding traffic have frequently been frustrated.
Green Councillors have prioritised ward budgets, public realm funding and any other funds we could use to get roads traffic calmed to make roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists. This has been in the face of limited budgets and against Kirklees Highways policy. We need sustained funding to support area wide traffic calming on residential roads so we are able to respond positively to community concerns, take a preventative approach to traffic speeds rather than one rationed on the basis of injury accidents.
Better adult social care
Positive work was carried out a few years ago by the Administration helping establish Valley Care a community based care cooperative. Our proposal is to provide staff to support the development of Community Based Care Cooperatives in Kirklees. Members of the Care Cooperatives will have a stake in the organisation they work for and the emphasis is on care not the profit motive.
We will support the development of Care Cooperatives that will operate on the basis of reinvesting surpluses in improving and extending the services they offer to provide a wide range of care services.
These cooperatives will provide all staff with at least the living wage, a training programme which supports development and progression. This model of care provision will also play a role in raising standards in the wider care sector.
https://www.valleycare.coop/
Under development – An Employers Workplace Parking Levy
We believe establishing a workplace parking levy to support public transport and active travel in Kirklees is worth investigating further. Employers with fewer than 10 parking spaces pay nothing at all. Employers offering more than 10 parking spaces pay a fee of £1.17 per day per parking space. There are exemptions for local emergency services, NHS frontline staff and blue badge holders.
In Nottingham, the Workplace Parking Levy on employers has raised more than £9 million each year, with the revenue used to fund tram infrastructure, a smart card scheme, electric buses and cycling facilities. Leicester are also looking at introducing a Workplace Parking Levy.
Kirklees Climate Commission
We are disappointed that there appears to be no dedicated budget line in the Administration’s budget for Kirklees Climate Commision (KCC). Given the importance the Administration have placed on setting up KCC and their position as vice chair we would have expected to see a dedicated budget that KCC would manage independently of the council to facilitate administration, sourcing third party research and working in the communities' interest.
We would hope that the council can rectify this outside the 2022-23 budget process so the KCC can establish independence in order to demonstrate a degree of self-determination that they can exercise in collaboration with other partners such as the Chamber of Commerce, University of Huddersfield and others.
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