Caroline Flint MP, Labour’s Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, will today launch Labour’s plan to end the scandal of cold homes. Building on Labour’s energy price freeze, she will announce a major drive on home insulation and set out plans to deliver long-term, permanent savings on energy bills and warmer homes for millions of people. The plans will mean that at least five million homes are upgraded over 10 years, saving the average household more than £270 a year from its energy bill.

She will reveal new figures, showing:

• Energy      bills in the least energy efficient properties are over £1,000 a year      higher than homes with good insulation.
• Two      thirds of households in fuel poverty live in the worst-insulated      properties.

The Energy Efficiency Green Paper sets out the steps a Labour Government will take to end cold homes:

• Provide      personalised home energy reports for half a million homes a year.
• Deliver      free energy efficiency home improvements to at least 200,000 low-income      households a year.
• Offer up      to a million loans for home improvements that are interest free in the next      Parliament, for households that are able to help meet the costs.
• Set a      new target for landlords to get cold and leaky properties up to a decent      standard.
• Designate      energy efficiency as a national infrastructure priority.

The Green Paper also sets out plans to provide greater certainty and simplicity for businesses, helping to insulate them from future energy price rises and boost UK competitiveness. 

Speaking in Hastings on Monday, Ms Flint is expected to say:

“Under the Tories’ failing plan, Britain is facing an energy bill crisis, with millions of people struggling to heat their homes. Labour has already set out radical plans to freeze energy prices until 2017, saving the average household £120, and fix the energy market for the future, with a tough new regulator to curb rip-off bills.

“But one of the main reasons our energy bills are so high is that our homes are some of the least energy efficient in Europe – leaking heat from their roofs, walls and windows. That’s why Labour has set out plans to freeze energy bills, reform the energy market and upgrade at least five million homes over 10 years. Our plans will mean cheaper bills and warmer homes for millions.”

The Energy Efficiency Green Paper can be found here: http://www.yourbritain.org.uk/agenda-2015/policy-review/policy-review/an-end-to-cold-homes-labour-s-energy-efficiency-green-paper