£1billion eco scheme will save middle class families £310 on bills

MIDDLE- INCOME households will be eligible for grants to make their homes more energy efficient as part of a £1billion Government scheme.

Business Secretary Grant Shapps is set to detail plans today to fund loft and cavity wall insulation in a bid to reduce the UK’s energy consumption and save families around £310 a year. Hundreds of thousands of households which have not been eligible for previous schemes will be able to benefit from the new ECO+ scheme,

‘Enable thousands to insulate homes’

which will run for up to three years from next spring.

Eligible households within council tax bands A-D will receive grants of around £1,500 to make their homes more energy- efficient through insulation. Loft insulation can save homes around £640 a year, while filling cavities can knock £525 off bills.

The Government will also confirm today an £18million public information campaign to offer advice and technical tips to help households cut their energy use while keeping warm.

It will suggest measures such as reducing the boiler flow temperature, turning down radiators in empty rooms and draught proofing windows and doors.

ECO schemes have already delivered more than three million energy- efficiency measures in 2.4million homes, the Government estimates.

Ministers hope the funding, allocated from existing budgets, will also provide certainty to green supply chains and jobs in the sector.

Mr Shapps said: ‘ The Government put immediate help in place to support households in the wake of global energy price rises caused by Putin’s illegal march on Ukraine.

‘Today, we launch the first of many measures to ensure the British public are never put in this position again as we work towards an energyindependent future.

‘A new ECO scheme will enable thousands more to insulate their homes, protecting the pounds in their pockets, and create jobs across the country.

‘And in the short term, our new public information campaign will also give people the tools they need to reduce their energy use while keeping warm this winter.’ But Labour’s climate change spokesman Ed Miliband said: ‘This reheated announcement with no new resources is far too little too late and will help only a tiny fraction of the millions of people facing a cost of living emergency this winter.

‘ Labour’s Warm Homes Plan would insulate up to two million homes a year, saving pensioners and families up to £1,000 off their energy bills.’