Agenda item

Motion B

Proposed by Councillor Joy; seconded by Councillor Flynn

Council notes that:

• Severn Wye Energy Agency estimates around 14,000 Cheltenham households could experience fuel poverty this year.
• Cold homes and fuel poverty contribute to the phenomenon of excess winter deaths. England saw an estimated 63,000 excess winter deaths in 2020-21, 10% of which have been directly attributed to fuel poverty. (Institute of Health Equity).
• CBC is working with organisations including Vision 21, Severn Wye Energy Agency, Planet Cheltenham and Cheltenham Zero to alleviate fuel poverty, but acknowledges that the work currently planned will not be enough to prevent serious hardship and exacerbate health inequalities, especially in the immediate future.
• According to FOtE, 57% of homes in Cheltenham are rated EPC D to G, and as such are not sufficiently energy-efficient. Around 9,300 homes across Cheltenham would benefit significantly from free loft insulation, and around 9,800 would benefit from free cavity wall insulation. The government recommends that all homes be EPC C or above by 2035. To achieve that target, at least 3,621 homes need to be insulated per year to avoid unnecessary cold and financial hardship.
• A great deal of housing stock is heritage and privately-rented, with property managers failing to upgrade them to prevent damp, mould, heat loss and electrical faults.
• This Council declared a ‘Cost of Living Emergency’ in July 2022, and following from the declaration of a ‘Climate Emergency’ in 2019, must aim to end fuel poverty in the area by 2030, in a way that also reduces domestic energy use and helps meet climate commitments.

This Council resolves to:

Further, Council requests that officers:

• Report on progress made on ending fuel poverty to the Overview and Scrutiny committee every six months.
• Sign Cheltenham Borough Council up to the End Fuel Poverty Coalition.

Council also requests that the Leader of the Council writes to the HM Treasury asking for funding to upgrade homes.

In proposing the motion, Cllr. Joy suggested that it could tie in with the Heating and Energy Policy agreed earlier in the meeting. She was conscious that Council would not meet again until December, and felt obligated to ensure that this important topic was brought to Members’ attention. They had a real opportunity to investigate fuel poverty and make a difference for the many households across Cheltenham suffering from it.

She highlighted a number of key issues that contributed to fuel poverty, in addition to the current geopolitical instability. Many energy users were unaware they could switch suppliers and those who did had difficulty doing so, while HMO residents were not in a position to retrofit their living spaces. Elderly residents in particular were less likely to have a bank account or trust Direct Debit, which energy suppliers tended to prefer. It was clear that residents with complex needs were struggling, with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation finding that 30% of disabled people lived in fuel poverty – a figure they expected to substantially rise in the coming months.

While the council’s Heating and Energy Policy was a proactive step, extra elements and more urgent action were needed in order to help prevent the 7,000 deaths directly attributed to fuel poverty each year. In the last month, there had been a house fire in her ward caused by someone burning candles for heat, and she was not convinced that landlords were following proper fire safety standards.

She noted that point 3 of her motion (to create support systems for private renters to ensure their housing rights were being fulfilled) was something the council was already empowered to do, following its implementation of a rent repayment order in 2018. The other steps she suggested were practical and actionable, such as signing up to the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, which would cost only £250 a year and form a key part of a comprehensive support network. She added that it was essential to support hardworking and often underfunded organisations across the town. In summary, she asked Council to consider the suggestions made and use all the tools in its arsenal to deal with the situation before it became even more desperate and extreme.

Amendment to Motion B

Proposed by Councillor Jeffries; seconded by Councillor Lewis

Council notes that:

·         Severn Wye Energy Agency estimates around 14,000 Cheltenham households could experience fuel poverty this year.

·         Cold homes and fuel poverty contribute to the phenomenon of excess winter deaths. England saw an estimated 63,000 excess winter deaths in 2020-21, 10% of which have been directly attributed to fuel poverty. (Institute of Health Equity).

·         CBC is working with organisations including Vision 21, Severn Wye Energy Agency, Planet Cheltenham and Cheltenham Zero to alleviate fuel poverty, but acknowledges that the work currently planned will not be enough to prevent serious hardship and exacerbate health inequalities, especially in the immediate future.

·         According to FOtE, 57% of homes in Cheltenham are rated EPC D to G, and as such are not sufficiently energy-efficient. Around 9,300 homes across Cheltenham would benefit significantly from free loft insulation, and around 9,800 would benefit from free cavity wall insulation. The government recommends that all homes be EPC C or above by 2035. To achieve that target, at least 3,621 homes need to be insulated per year to avoid unnecessary cold and financial hardship.

·         A great deal of housing stock is heritage and privately rented, with property managers failing to upgrade them to prevent damp, mould, heat loss and electrical faults.

·         This Council declared a ‘Cost of Living Emergency’ in July 2022, and following from the declaration of a ‘Climate Emergency’ in 2019, must aim to end fuel poverty in the area by 2030, in a way that also reduces domestic energy use and helps meet climate commitments.

Council recognises the hard work and dedication of its Councillors, officers, and partner organisations in their ongoing work to tackle poverty of all kinds across Cheltenham.

This work includes, but is not limited to:

• The Warm & Well Scheme in partnership with Severn Wye, which provides access to advice and grants to tackle fuel poverty
• The Award Winning No Child Left Behind scheme, which is supporting the #FeedCheltenham and #WarmCheltenham schemes.
• Cheltenham Borough Council’s recent foodbank grants
• Cheltenham Borough Council’s super-fast rollout of recent support grants from the Government.
• CBH’s tenant support packages, which cover housing rights, benefits access, and debt advice.
• CBH’s focus on improving the energy efficiency of poorer performing homes.
• Investment in improving energy efficiency in council homes via the Decarbonisation Fund
• Homelessness prevention work via the Housing Options Service
• Partnership working with Citizens Advice providing housing rights advice, which includes private renters 
• The Private Sector Housing team inspecting and raising housing standards in homes across Cheltenham
• The Council tax support scheme that provides maximum support to our most vulnerable residents.

In acknowledging this work, Council remains ever dedicated to finding new ways to help the people of Cheltenham at this time of crisis. A crisis created, first and foremost, by the negligence of this Westminster Government.

As such, Council resolves that the O&S Committee be requested to review the issues raised in relation to fuel poverty, alongside its ongoing work reviewing our support for deprived areas and prepare a report on potential next steps for Cabinet’s consideration. This report should be considered within the bounds of our budgetary position and the powers this authority and our partners hold.

In proposing an amendment to the motion, Cllr. Jeffries noted the debilitating effects of all types of poverty on physical and mental health. The true measure of any society was found in how it treated its most vulnerable members, and some 14.5 million people were living in poverty in the UK – more than one in five. Of these, 8.1 million were working-age adults, 4.3 million were children and 2.1 million were pensioners. The Resolution Foundation predicted that 1.3 million more people would be plunged into absolute poverty by 2023, including 500,000 children. The NEA estimated that 6.5 million households were in fuel poverty in the UK, and this was expected to grow by another 2 million. There would be deaths this winter as a result of the fuel crisis.

He asked who could make the biggest impact in changing the lives of those in the figures he had just cited, and suggested that central government was not acting in the interests of its most vulnerable citizens. Poverty had risen as a result of austerity, before the government had to be shamed by a famous footballer into feeding hungry children during the pandemic. Recent political chaos and the change of Prime Minister had done nothing to improve the situation for vulnerable people or alleviate poverty.

In contrast to this, the council continued to expand the measures it put in place to support the most vulnerable residents – both in terms of its statutory functions and in partnership with a wide range of organisations. One of these measures which was not mentioned in the amendment was the ‘Donate the Rebate’ campaign, which sought to encourage those who did not need their £400 energy rebate from the government to donate it to those who did. The amendment requested that O&S review the issues raised, and he was sure the committee would take a measured view.

In seconding the amendment, Cllr. Lewis emphasised the vital work undergone by the council and its partners and officers, which was both the backbone of the town and the justification for the council’s existence. In addition to the measures outlined in the amendment, she assured the proposer of the original motion that they were working to protect families in HMOs, those who had not received a rebate and those who could not change their energy suppliers. The work the council did was impressive given its limited remit and resources, and they were constrained above all else by the outrageous mismanagement of local government finances by central government. She thanked those working round the clock in Cheltenham to support the most vulnerable, and looked forward to seeing what O&S produced as a result of this request.

The Mayor moved into the debate, where Members made the following points:

-       it was important to find out exactly what the council’s powers were here, so it would have been useful to refer the original motion to O&S to find this out;

-       the council had a very sound reputation for the administration of both council tax and benefits, but the next few months would be difficult for everyone, and it was an issue far wider than just Cheltenham or the UK;

-        the council was already doing most of what was requested in the original motion, and going above and beyond in many ways;

-       the original motion was timely but could have left someone with the impression that not much was happening, especially with regard to the private rented sector;

-       council officers were working hard to hold private landlords to account and prosecute those who broke the law;

-       Cllr. Joy’s concerns about fire safety as a consequence of the fuel crisis were quite right. Residents were using candles and burning wood to provide heat and light, with significant health risks clearly involved, as well as increased risk for firefighters;

-       close collaboration with county council colleagues would be necessary, especially on the question of fire safety;

-       public information campaigns on topics like fire safety needed to reach all properties, not just those directly overseen by the council or CBH;

-       the council was committed to delivering sustainable and energy efficient social housing across the town, with a particular focus on upgrading windows and doors;

-       the council had previously applied to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Fund and was in the process of bidding for Phase 2;

-       urgent action was needed with winter approaching and residents in a dire situation. It was essential that the issue was not kicked into the long grass, and an O&S response could take some time.

There being no further comments, the Mayor moved to the vote on the amendment, which was carried.

The Mayor then moved to the voteon the amended motion, which was carried.