‘Preparation for high bills must start now’
LEADERS have called for immediate action to be taken to help low-income tenants through the winter, with work being stepped up to help vulnerable residents due to growing winter deaths – deemed preventable – in the borough.
It was revealed last month that 20,798 households across the borough were in fuel poverty, a term used when people have to spend more than ten per cent of net income on fuel.
Barnsley Council is now retrofitting eligible council housing stock across the borough and delivering a solar home scheme to cut energy bills for its tenants.
The schemes aim to upgrade the energy efficiency of houses in Barnsley by installing insulation to walls, lofts and underfloor using funding from the Green Homes Grant initiative.
Visiting a retrofit scheme in Barnsley last Friday, the day Ofgem revealed how much energy bills will rise in the autumn, South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard says ministers are ‘missing in action’ and letting down households already struggling to make ends meet.
He said: “Rocketing energy prices and rising inflation are already inflicting real misery on many people, even before Friday’s announcement.
“Meanwhile we have a government missing in action, whose ideas have run out, which has no plan to help people through the next few months and beyond.
“I visited one of the schemes in Barnsley led by the council and it was encouraging to see the work going into helping struggling households and tenants to make improvements to their homes and bring their energy bills down.
“These sorts of schemes should be scaled-up at pace across the country; not only to save people money, but to create greener, warmer homes and help us decarbonise our region.”
Council leader Sir Steve
Houghton added: “We know that the rising cost of living is a real and serious issue for people across Barnsley and across the country.
“We’re really pleased that funding has been made available to make homes as energy efficient as possible, helping to bring energy bills down in a time when many people are seeing their bills go up.
“It’s also a step in the right direction as we work towards carbon net zero as a council by 2040, and across the borough by 2045.
“As the crisis continues, we’d welcome more schemes like this across South Yorkshire and nationally with a clear funded strategy from government, helping to cut costs for households and create more sustainable housing.”