ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT 2013 - 2014 Buckinghamshire County Council and partners celebrate winning a Community Action Award for their Big Heat project, along with NEA, British Gas and DECC Contents 4 Introduction 5 Headline Impacts 6 Chair’s Statement 7 President’s Statement 8 Chief Executive’s Statement 10 Impacts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland 26 Warm Zones CIC 28 Financial review 30 Funders and supporters 31 NEA Advisory Group, Board of Trustees and current staff list INTRODUCTION NEA is a Registered Charity and a Company Limited by Guarantee and was incorporated in October National Energy Action (NEA) 1984. We have our head office in Newcastle with works across England, Wales representation across the nine English regions as and Northern Ireland to well as in Wales and Northern Ireland. ensure that everyone in the UK can afford to stay warm, comfortable and healthy in NEA also delivers practical measures to alleviate their home. fuel poverty and improve domestic energy efficiency through its wholly-owned subsidiary Warm Zones CIC, and works closely with its sister organisation, Energy Action Scotland. Our strategic aims are: • To influence and increase strategic action against fuel poverty • To develop and progress solutions to T o achieve these aims NEA: improve access to energy efficiency products, advice and related services in • Campaigns and influences UK households • Promotes the efficient use of energy • To enhance knowledge and understanding of energy efficiency and • Delivers innovative solutions fuel poverty • Trains and educates • Delivers projects and supports infrastructure 4 HEADLINE IMPACTS • Future legislative framework for fuel poverty • Evidence provided of good practice and reduction included in the Energy Act 2013 and key policy failure. principles of new fuel poverty strategy for England were debated by frontline agencies and their views • Following the Government review shared with DECC. of green levies, elements of the Energy Company Obligation retained, • Additional rebates or enhanced services for particularly those aimed at the fuel poor, vulnerable customers secured from energy and an extension of the scheme until suppliers. 2017. 26,612 10,000 2,852 634 5,477 householders stakeholders frontline advisors candidates Our subsidiary assisted with have improved and others gained the company, Warm insulation, knowledge of dealing with Level 3 Award Zones assessed heating, advice action they can vulnerable clients in Energy 5,477 households, and other energy take to help trained by NEA, Awareness installed energy saving measures their clients, providing advice 6281-01 saving measures customers or and increasing throughout in 3,890 either directly peers who are access to service England, households, by NEA or via living in fuel and support to Scotland, Wales and assisted energy champion poverty. marginalised and Northern more than 700 and community communities Ireland. households to engagement and vulnerable claim a total work. households. of more than £3.5m in welfare 5 benefits. Chair’s Statement Patrick Law Overview of the year NEA’s Board of Trustees has this year focused on maintaining the charity’s services through the continuing challenging financial climate. A development fund at the start of the year enabled us to build our capacity even where funding was uncertain and to develop new partnerships. This strategy was successful in growing our membership base and reaching a much wider range of stakeholders. The charity remains in a healthy financial position having improved efficiency over the past year and I am confident we go into a new financial year in a good position to campaign hard and provide services to alleviate fuel poverty. Future Plans The Board will continue to focus on bringing about meaningful change in policy and practice in the year ahead. However it will do so under new leadership. I have served NEA as a trustee for seven years and for the last of these in the role as Chair of the Board. It is right that I now stand down and I am delighted that Derek Lickorish, who has a long track record in the energy industry and who has chaired the Government’s Fuel Poverty Advisory Group for England, takes over as the new Chair from July 2014. I am very grateful to all of the trustees who have given their advice and time to ensure the charity fulfils its mission with vigour and passion. There were a few changes in our make-up as Ruth Thompson stood down from the Board last July, but who subsequently joined our Advisory Group as a passionate ambassador for the charity, and we welcomed Alison Cole and Tessa Sayers in May 2013. 6 President’s Statement Charles Hendry MP NEA has provided decision-makers in Parliament, the energy industry and in communities with the information and policy analysis needed to help them shape policies and programmes to improve the lives of people living in fuel poverty. The political and media focus on the affordability of energy over the past year has increased the profile of our charity’s work and we have provided analysis and comment to inform the lively debate within corporations, the energy regulator’s offices and Parliament. We will continue to use our voice on behalf of the most vulnerable energy consumers to shape future fuel poverty strategies and programmes. We look forward to working with anyone interested in energy affordability at a local or national level. I pay particular tribute to Jenny Saunders and the staff at NEA for their immense dedication which has made the charity the leading source of information on all issues relating to fuel poverty. 7 Chief Executive’s Statement Jenny Saunders OBE Policy context Over the year we have seen the roll-out of new policies which impact both positively and negatively on fuel poverty, and have witnessed the rolling back of some of these policies and programmes designed to reduce energy use in the home. With no publicly funded insulation and heating programme in England, NEA expressed deep concern when the Chancellor announced a major review of the Energy Company Obligation which had just been set up to provide around £1.3billion investment in energy saving measures across Britain. Whilst the main two elements designed specifically to address fuel poverty were not eventually reduced, the review created uncertainty and impacted on delivery partners and supply chain. A positive outcome from our campaigning was the extension of the scheme to 2017. We have continued to call for additional resources with ECO set to assist just 7% of fuel poor households by 2015 and a remaining and increasing gap in fuel poverty of around £1.2 billion under the Government’s preferred new definition of fuel poverty that affected 4.5 million UK households during 2013. NEA worked positively to ensure that a future legislative framework for fuel poverty was brought forward and included in the Energy Act 2013. This will result in a new fuel poverty strategy for England from early 2015. 8 Key Activities progressive commitments to act on fuel poverty and support an ambitious new Fuel Poverty target As well as campaigning activities, the charity was and strategy. Additional resources will be dedicated focused on its aims of increasing knowledge and to help local communities engage in this important skills needed to tackle fuel poverty and developing area of public policy and help raise awareness with new solutions. We ran 210 training courses with their parliamentary candidates of what action is accredited qualifications or offering continuing needed locally. professional development to 2,867 frontline advice workers or volunteers. We plan to strengthen our strategic partnerships, and develop an extra help service for vulnerable We organised 78 events and contributed to a customers as the national roll-out of smart meters further 92 to help inform more than 10,000 gets underway. Easier access to NEA training stakeholders what actions and policies they can resources online and a wider suite of courses will pursue to alleviate fuel poverty. become available. Community engagement has been a big focus of Warm Zones work for us – helping to develop an understanding of the opportunities and impacts of changes in Whilst this has been a challenging year for Government and energy companies’ policies and Warm Zones, we worked hard to ensure that programmes – so that more vulnerable people our holistic area-based service was maintained could access the support that is available. We also through the introduction of the new energy helped to shape the delivery of those programmes, supplier obligations (ECO), and the significant working with the mandated parties to design policy changes that were introduced after the projects to reach vulnerable groups. start of the programme. Charity future plans Warm Zones assessed 5,477 households and installed energy saving measures in 3,890 In the run up to the General Election we shall of those, and over £3.5million benefits were campaign for all the main parties to adopt successfully claimed on behalf of eligible households. 9 NEA’s Impact in England Influencing and UK Fuel Poverty Monitor which and persuade. 78 seminars and increasing strategic compared and contrasted the events were delivered directly differing approaches to tackling by NEA, including the Annual action against fuel fuel poverty in England and the Conferences in England, Wales poverty devolved nations. and Northern Ireland, our regional fuel poverty forums with sponsors Campaigning for change The campaign attracted significant including EDF