Agenda item - Fuel Poverty Task Group - Final Report

Agenda item

Fuel Poverty Task Group - Final Report

Minutes:

The Chairman of the Fuel Poverty Task Group, Councillor R. Hunter, presented the group’s final report.

 

The Board was informed that at the start of the review there had already been 5,000 households living in fuel poverty in Bromsgrove and, based on reports from Act on Energy of recent increases in requests for help and support, it was likely that this number was growing. The Fuel Poverty Task Group had obtained evidence from a range of expert witnesses representing both the Council and external organisations and the group’s recommendations were based on the evidence that had been gathered. These recommendations were ready to be implemented and this action would be timely.

 

The Chairman of the Fuel Poverty Task Group took the opportunity to thank all the Task Group Members, witnesses and Officers for their contributions. He further commented that some of the actions outlined in the recommendations were already being undertaken, for example a leaflet on fuel poverty had already been introduced which contained useful information for the benefit of local residents. In addition, there was information already available on the Council webpages and links redirecting to the resources available on the Act of Energy website.

 

Following the presentation, Members discussed the work of the Task Group and the following responses were provided to questions asked:

 

·       The Council and Act on Energy did a lot of work around publicity, to encourage people to come forward if they were struggling with energy costs or were in fuel poverty, and in addition sought to engage with those residents who were eligible but did not come forward.

·       Some Members had also been distributing energy advice leaflets in their Wards, encouraging residents to seek support with energy and heating costs. The leaflets provided a list of all support services available locally.

·       The Council also worked through Bromsgrove Partnership to coordinate the response across the District including the rural parts and encourage people to approach the Council without stigma.

·       It was noted that Act on Energy had been receiving an unprecedented number of calls and they were hearing from many people who did not access their services before.

·       Members discussed the support that was available through Citizen Advice Bureau (CAB) including information about support with opening a bank account for people with poor credit rating and other financial tips though money advice section on the CAB’s website.

·       It was requested by Members that residents be signposted to Citizen Advice Bromsgrove (CAB) information on cost of living and fuel poverty through a full-page feature in the local newspapers and a feature in the local rural magazine.

 

During the discussion, Members expressed satisfaction with the report and the recommendations as proposed in the Fuel Poverty Task Group, subject to a minor change to recommendation 6, to require that the Cabinet should actively explore all external funding options available to the Council to support Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) groups.

 

On being put to the vote the Fuel Poverty Task Group report recommendations, subject to a minor change to recommendation 6, were endorsed to be recommended to Cabinet.

 

RECOMMENDED to Cabinet that:

 

1)    The Council ensures its webpages are up to date and takes a proactive approach in promoting the various areas of support (including an up to date list of Warm Hubs/Spaces and support provided by local libraries in the District) available through as many different mediums as possible. For example, through its social media account and by learning from the best practice approaches used by other Councils;

 

2)    A poster or booklet is created which includes a simple straight forward guide to all the various areas of support – this should be accessible in local buildings such as the libraries and Councillors provided with copies to hand out to residents or distribute for display on noticeboards;

 

3)    Councillors are provided with the contact details of Act on Energy and encouraged to proactively liaise with the outreach workers to ensure access to support is readily available to residents within their Wards;

 

4)    The Bromsgrove Partnership, supported by the Council, takes a lead role in the collection of high quality intelligence/data to ensure that the Council’s partners can target their interventions where support is most needed;

 

5)    The Bromsgrove Partnership (with input from all District Councillors and/or relevant Parish Councils) take a lead role in co-ordinating appropriate support, to ensure it is readily available for residents throughout the whole district, for example this could mean the provision of a Warm Hub/Space and the facilities offered by the local libraries;

 

6)    The Cabinet actively explores all external funding options (for example the UK Shared Prosperity Fund) available to the Council in order to ensure that, if needed, it is able to provide financial support to VCS organisations throughout the district in providing the support detailed in recommendation 5 above.

 

Supporting documents: