Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to provide funding for energy efficiency projects highlighted in the reports submitted to him by local authorities in 2019 under the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995.

We are supporting local authorities, local areas and local economies through a range programmes. Our Local Energy programme is supporting Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), local authorities and communities in England to play a leading role in decarbonisation and clean growth. Almost £20 million has been invested and the programme has funded a range of measures designed to build local capacity and capability and encourage joined-up working between local areas, investors and central government, including:

• Five Local Energy Hubs, which have been established across England to provide local authorities and LEPs with access to expertise to help develop and secure investment in low carbon projects;
• Good practice guidance, tools and resources for use by local authorities and LEPs; and
• An online communications platform for local authorities and LEPs to share information and learn from each other.

In addition to direct funding, local authorities can voluntarily participate under the ‘LA Flex’ mechanism of ECO. This allows local authorities to identify low income and vulnerable households in their area and refer them to the larger energy suppliers, who have an obligation target to deliver energy efficiency measures under ECO.