The Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) organised an event last month aimed particularly at the ‘community sector’ (in practice, mainly local authorities, housing association and NGOs) on “The Green Deal and the Big Society”
Kate de Selincourt who attended the event offers a short summary below. A longer report will be posted on the AECB in due course.
Greg Barker, Secretary of State, made the following key points:
- No ‘cap’ will be imposed on the spending per household, so long as it meets the ‘golden rule’ (ie the assessment shows that the repayments will be less than the savings) – or as the Secretary of State put it, “the golden rule is the cap”.
- Mr Barker expected the Green Deal to offer financial savings including to the poorest
- The target is to treat 14 million homes by 2020, a further 12 million by 2030
- Microgeneration will not be included to begin with, but possibly ‘in due course’.
- Savings for the poorest households, and the ‘hardest-to-treat’ dwellings will be delivered with help of subsidies via a re-designed Energy Company Obligation
It appears that almost all of the ‘nitty gritty’ of the delivery of the Deal is still actively being shaped and reshaped, with considerable input from industry and ‘the sector’ more widely. As much of the crucial detail is still up for grabs, and if you or your organisation can spare the time, there may well be scope to add your expertise.
www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/tackling/green_deal/green_deal.aspx
www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/legislation/energy_bill/energy_bill.aspx