Construction National

£12m boost to help cities kick-start green deal

Seven cities across England have received a share of £12m from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to help them kick-start the Green Deal in their regions.

The cities – Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield – have put forward ambitious proposals to lower their carbon emissions and this new funding will support their plans to test key elements of the Green Deal.

The Green Deal helps people pay for home improvements like insulation through savings on their energy bills.

Energy Secretary Edward Davey said: “These cities have really ambitious plans to lower their emissions, reduce energy use and help people save money on their bills. I’ve been really impressed by their plans to start testing the Green Deal and transforming our homes and buildings.

“This funding will help them get up and running, and I look forward to seeing a number of properties across whole communities get the energy efficient improvements they need.”

Earlier in the year, the Government announced that cities would be given greater freedoms, powers and tools to help them go for growth.

This new funding will be a key opportunity to test elements of the Green Deal framework like assessment and installation, and provide early feedback. The proposals received include retrofitting properties across whole communities and initial indications suggest that the cities expect to deliver to around 2,500 retrofits to households and non-domestic properties.

All of the cities are also proposing to generate match funding and/or provide direct support themselves.

This work will support future Green Deal activity in these cities, raise awareness of the Green Deal significantly through community engagement and show homes, and provide support to local supply chains including trained Green Deal advisors and registered installers.

www.decc.gov.uk