COUNCILLORS have welcomed a new scheme designed to help people out of fuel poverty.
The Government’s Warm Homes Plan will look to help residents keep their properties warm at a reasonable cost.
It comes after figures revealed that rising energy prices had left almost one in five households in fuel poverty.
Cllr Paul Taylor, Labour representative for Boney Hay and Central at Lichfield District Council, said the Government’s new proposals to help address the issue would be “smarter, greener and more targeted” than previous attempts.
He said:
“After paying housing costs, energy is usually the biggest outgoing a household has. Since the Ukraine invasion and some frankly mad decisions by the last Government, it’s a real worry for many homes in Lichfield and Burntwood.
“Many properties here are older, with less modern heating and insulation. The Government can either throw taxpayers’ money at the problem like Liz Truss did or go for a set of smart investments in home heating.
“The Warm Homes Plan will set up help to install heat pumps, solar panels and batteries in eligible homes. If you take an average three-bedroomed semi-detached home in Chasetown or Curborough with a cavity wall, they could save up to £500 a year on the annual energy bill.”
Cllr Sharon Banevicius, who represents the Summerfield and All Saints ward, said that the proposals would also help those living in more rural areas.
She explained:
“Many homes in the villages outside Lichfield don’t have mains gas – so they have to depend on expensive oil or bottled gas for heating.
“The new Government BUS grant provides help for lower income families in poorly insulated homes towards installing an energy-efficient heat pump, taking latent heat from the air or soil even on cold days.
“I think the Government’s proudest achievement so far is to lift half a million children out of poverty with the ending of the cruel two-child benefit cap – and I think its next great achievement will be to lift a million families out of fuel poverty by the end of the decade.”
