NEA response to UK Government consultation on the Fuel Poverty Strategy for England

NEA believes the most pressing issue to address is a lack of adequate resource to meet the statutory energy efficiency fuel poverty requirements in England. The CFP has calculated that to meet the UK Government’s statutory duty, a funding shortfall of £15.1 billion currently exists. This is the shortfall after considering the impacts of the two policies that are currently approved and in place – ECO3 for 2018 to 2022 and the amended Private Rented Sector (PRS) regulations that require properties to reach EPC Band E. In their written submission to the BEIS committee, the Committee on Fuel Poverty have also estimated that if implemented, the Clean Growth Strategy proposals could realistically lower this shortfall by £6.2 billion. This £6.2 billion breaks down into £2.1 billion for extending ‘ECO funding’ to 2028, £2.7 billion for extending the PRS trajectory to EPC Band C in 2030 and £1.4 billion for making social housing achieve Band C by 2030. However, these proposals have yet to be implemented and even assuming that Government do in fact implement the above Clean Growth Strategy recommendations it would still not achieve the 2020 and 2025 fuel poverty milestones.