Councillor Naomi Graham moved and Councillor Judith Grier seconded a motion submitted in accordance with Standing Order 13.

In moving the motion, Councillor Graham confirmed that she was happy to accept the Labour Group amendment, which was moved by Councillor Liz Grey, and seconded by Councillor Sue Powell-Wilde as follows:

In first bullet point, delete line “- over 1-4 households in Bidston and St James ward (25.2%) compared to 1 in 12 in Heswall ward (8.3%) (1)”

Before the last paragraph, insert:

‘Council recognises that no adequate retrofit of insulation is possible without adequate Government funding, and that in 2013 David Cameron axed the home insulation and renewable energy funding established by the previous Labour Government, thereby reducing loft insulation rates by 92% and cavity wall insulation rates by 74% almost overnight, depriving thousands of people warm homes and lower bills as well as failing to reduce associated greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, a study by Carbon Brief in January 2022 has suggested that this move is currently costing £2.5 billion a year for UK Households.’

In the last paragraph to delete ‘To support this, Council asks…’ and replace with ‘Council recognises that national changes are needed but, in the meantime, asks officers to work with…’

Having applied the guillotine in accordance with Standing Order 9.1, the Council did not debate this matter, and having agreed to the Labour amendment, the substantive motion, as amended, was put and it was –

Resolved (Unanimously) – That

Council welcomes the national and local financial support to help residents with energy bills.

But rising energy costs are not a one off. To protect against future energy price increases and maximise the return on expenditure, Council believes all housing in our borough should be insulated to a minimum of Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ‘C’ standard with good quality loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, double-glazing and draught exclusion.

Council notes

· The insight from Wirral Intelligence service that almost 1 in 7 households in Wirral were estimated to live in fuel poverty in 2020, with large inequalities between wards. The report to Policy and Resources Committee in August 2022 which outlined that the proportion of households in England living in fuel poverty could rise to 42% of households after October 2022(2).

· The Fuel Poverty, Cold Homes and Health Inequalities report which highlights the ‘dangerous consequences’ of living in a cold home to a child’s health and future life expectancy (3)

· The Great Homes Upgrade report identifying that one in four pounds spent on heating is wasted (4) and the Energy Saving Trust Report from December 2020 commissioned by Wirral Council, highlighting that our existing housing stock is less energy efficient than the UK average.

· The Energy Efficiency Infrastructure Group (EEIG) estimate that if all homes were upgraded to the EPC C efficiency band, households would save on average £400 per year (5).

· The economic benefits of retrofitting with the potential for high-value local jobs in retrofitting. The UK Energy Research Council (UKERC) estimate that for every £1 invested by in domestic energy efficiency, GDP could be increased by £3.20 and tax take by £1.27.

· The Government target to upgrade all housing to Energy performance certificate (EPC) level C or above by 2035. To achieve that target, 7,095 homes on the Wirral need to be insulated per year.

· Cool 2 Wirral’s Climate Strategy to reduce the overall demand for energy in Wirral across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors making sure all homes currently below Energy Performance Certificate Band C that can be upgraded are improved to this level or better by around 2030”.

Council acknowledges the work already being done as outlined in the Update on the Low Carbon Housing Retrofit Programme to Wirral’s Housing Committee in November 2021 (6) but commits to increasing the pace of delivery. Council appreciates the scale of this challenge but at the same time makes a commitment to end fuel poverty, poor health and excess carbon emissions from poorly insulated homes.

Council recognises that no adequate retrofit of insulation is possible without adequate Government funding, and that in 2013 David Cameron axed the home insulation and renewable energy funding established by the previous Labour Government, thereby reducing loft insulation rates by 92% and cavity wall insulation rates by 74% almost overnight, depriving thousands of people warm homes and lower bills as well as failing to reduce associated greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, a study by Carbon Brief in January 2022 has suggested that this move is currently costing £2.5 billion a year for UK Households.

Council recognises that national changes are needed, but, in the meantime, asks officers to work with the Economy Regeneration and Housing Committee, to include as part of its’ work programme, actions to enable the Council to

· Have an ambitious stated year on year insulation or EPC target for Wirral.

· Develop a plan by the end of financial year to help realise the target.

· Actively identify potential sources of funding (within current budgets and via external funding) to enable improvements to start this winter.

1 https://www.wirralintelligenceservice.org/state-of-the-borough/ (all wards at https://wirral.communityinsight.org/?indicator=fuel_pov_alt_11_dr_20200101#)

2 https://democracy.wirral.gov.uk/documents/s50093142/Cost%20of%20Living%20Crisis.pdf

3 https://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/resources-reports/fuel-poverty-cold-homes-and-health[1]inequalities-in-the-uk

4 https://greathomesupgrade.org/housingCampaign/campaign

5 https://greathomesupgrade.org/about/faq

6 https://democracy.wirral.gov.uk/documents/s50083141/Update%20on%20Low%20Carbon%20Hou sing%20Retrofit%20Programme.pdf