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The role of an advice infrastructure in the co-ordination and delivery of energy efficiency activity

Panel: Panel 1. Energy efficiency – a strategic choice for Europe

Authors:
Colin Timmins, The Energy Saving Trust
Philip Ivey, The Energy Saving Trust

Abstract

This paper looks at the development and results of two Energy Saving Trust initiatives: the Energy Efficiency Advice Network and the Local Authority Support Programme.

In the UK local authorities have the responsibility to develop plans to reduce energy consumption in all homes and to eradicate fuel poverty under the Home Energy Conservation Act (HECA). However, local authorities have no additional funding to help them, and many are struggling to achieve the government targets.

The Energy Efficiency Advice Network of the Energy Saving Trust has evolved into a network of 52 Advice Centres covering the whole of the United Kingdom. How it developed and expanded to deliver a cost-effective and efficient network is explored in this paper.

The Local Authority Support Programme was developed to see if local endorsement and delivery of energy efficiency makes a difference to the activity of local authorities, and their residents. The Local Authority Support Programme is a new initiative from Energy Saving Trust aimed at providing practical support to groups of local authorities, at a local level, to help them meet their Home Energy Conservation Act targets. Two dedicated members of staff are funded by the Energy Saving Trust to work in each of 23 Energy Efficiency Advice Centres (each Advice Centre covers approximately a county sized area, and around 500 000 households). In total the Local Authority Support Programme now covers over 47 % of the United Kingdom.

Ongoing research shows that local authorities appreciate the support they get from the local authority Support teams, but is this programme really making a difference to the level of activity undertaken by local authorities?

This paper looks at the lessons learnt so far, and discusses whether the programme goes far enough to help deliver UK targets, and looks at practise that could be applied in other European countries.

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