The Affordable Warmth Strategy 2007-2010 was launched in March 2007 and for the first time set out a co-ordinated approach to address the problems of cold, damp homes.
The Strategy was developed by Wakefield Council in partnership with National Energy Action. The actions were shaped through consultation and workshops with a range of partners, including Wakefield District Housing, Social Services, WDPCT, Energy Efficiency Advice Centre, Age Concern, Pension Service, West Yorkshire Fire Service, VOX and VAWD.
The Strategy Action Plan broke activity down in to five core themes. These themes addressed the key areas of activity required to tackle fuel poverty in the Wakefield District. These themes are outlined below:
- Raise Awareness of Affordable Warmth amongst Key Agencies- raising the profile of fuel poverty and of the Strategy through promotions and research with the objective of ensuring cross partnership commitment and better fuel poverty awareness.
- Improve Public Awareness of Affordable Warmth Issues and Assistance - this theme addresses the need to raise public awareness of affordable warmth benefits and assistance through effective publicity, community based marketing and accessible information.
- Achieve Affordable Warmth through Improved Partnerships - to successfully tackle fuel poverty key agencies must work together, pooling resources and sharing information. This theme aims to improve affordable warmth co-operation and mainstreaming of fuel poverty within key agencies.
- Improve Health through Affordable Warmth - the Health Service has a fundamental role to play in the fight against fuel poverty. This theme addresses the need to raise awareness and implement procedures in the WDPCT to identify people in fuel poverty.
- Making Wakefield’s Homes Warmer - improving a homes energy efficiency rating to SAP 65 will often remove the occupant from fuel poverty. This theme focuses on initiatives to install and encourage the installation of energy efficiency measures in all tenures.
Wakefield Affordable Warmth Strategy 2007-2010 Targets
The core 2007-2010 Strategy aim was to cut fuel poverty by 35% or 8484 households compared to 2007 baseline by 2010. This would lower the percentage of Wakefield district households in fuel poverty to 11.8%, in line with the reduction required to meet the government UK Fuel Poverty Strategy target of eradicating all fuel poverty by 2016.
2007 Fuel poverty baseline of households in fuel poverty = 24,240 (18.2% of Wakefield district housing stock). Please note this is a revised rate and slightly lower than the figures quoted in the Wakefield Affordable Warmth Strategy 2007-2010 document.
Summary of Achievements and Performance
Three years on the Strategy reached the end of it’s life in March 2011 having made great strides in tackling fuel poverty across the district.
To review the Strategy, a Summary Report has been produced that captures the key achievements, reports back on progress against targets and sets out future direction of the affordable warmth and domestic carbon reduction activitity in Wakefield.
The Strategy’s core aim was to reduce fuel poverty however against a backdrop of unprecedented national fuel price rises fuel poverty has in fact increased. Against this worsening of fuel poverty though, the 2007 Strategy made signifcant progress.
It is estimated that the Strategy directly removed over 3,700 households from fuel poverty and helped over 14,000 households benefit from improved insulation and heating measures. The Strategy also brought togther frontline partners to develop and implement a range of schemes and initiatives. These headline schemes and initiatives are outlined in the Summary Report.
Looking Ahead - 2011-16
The new Greener Homes, Healthier Homes: An Action Plan for Affordable Warmth 2011-16, launched on 8 March 2011 will carry on the good work of the Wakefield Affordable Warmth Strategy 2007-2010. This new Action Plan is outlined and can be downloaded in the Greener Homes, Healthier Homes: An Action Plan for Affordable Warmth 2010/16 page.
