I. Title of the Best Practice

II. Overview of the Best Practice

A. Aim
The overall aim of the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 is to engage relevant local authorities in the UK - all local authorities with responsibilities for housing - in securing improvements in the energy efficiency of residential accommodation in their areas.

Improving energy efficiency is not in general amongst the statutory functions for which local government is responsible in the UK. Local authorities do not have the powers or the resources to require improved energy efficiency (except where they themselves are the owner of housing properties). The Act therefore operates not by placing detailed and onerous obligations on local government, but through a reporting regime, which allows authorities considerable scope for developing appropriate local approaches.

Local authorities were required to prepare an energy conservation report identifying practicable and cost-effective measures to significantly improve the energy efficiency of all residential accommodation in their area; and are now required to report regularly on progress in implementing the measures. In England the Act covers 354 local authorities. They are expected to have developed a strategy for at least substantial progress towards a 30% improvement in energy efficiency over the 10 year period from 1 April 1996.

Improvement in energy efficiency is measured from a static baseline - 1 April 1996 - and the improvement is measured as the overall reduction in energy use for space and water heating, lighting, appliances and cooking fuel for all residential accommodation, based on a standard heating regime. (Changes in the number of dwellings since 1 April 1996 are ignored for the purposes of measuring improvements.)

The Act places a duty on every local authority to prepare an energy conservation report - their strategy - which:

sets out energy conservation measures that the authority considers practicable, cost-effective and likely to result in significant improvement in the energy efficiency of residential accommodation in its area (measures can include information, advice, education and promotion as well as making grants or loans and carrying out works).

• includes an assessment of the cost of the measures
• includes an assessment of the extent to which emissions of carbon dioxide will be reduced as a result of the measures; and
• includes a statement of any policy the authority has for taking into account the personal circumstances of any person.

The report can also include, if the authority wishes, the following:

• an assessment of the extent to which emissions of oxides of nitrogen and sulphur dioxide will be reduced as a result of the measures
• an assessment of the number of jobs which would result from the measures
• an assessment of the average savings in fuel bills and in kilowatt hours of fuel that might be expected to result from the measures; and
• such other matters as the authority considers appropriate.

Once a report has been prepared, the local authority is required to publish it and send a copy to the Secretary of State. Thereafter, authorities are required to report annually on the progress being made in implementing the measures identified.

The reports indicated the potential for nearly a 30% improvement to be achieved over the 10 to 15 years from 1 April 1996. In the first two years of activity, local authorities in England reported an improvement in the energy efficiency of residential accommodation by between 2% and 21/2%. There had also been reductions in CO2 emissions as a result.

The Act does not provide local authorities with new powers or resources. Rather, they are expected to build on their existing powers and duties; to act as a facilitator of change, encouraging homeowners and landlords to adopt energy efficiency measures as a matter of course; and to ensure that works programmes in housing the local authority owns include energy efficiency measures. They are expected to integrate all relevant policies and activities, including their other programmes covering environmental, health, property maintenance, education and social issues; and particularly those relating to Local Agenda 21, of which the Home Energy Conservation Act is a natural part.

In a number of instances, authorities have sought to provide added value for their local communities, by establishing incentive schemes, offering discounts on energy efficiency measures to those who live in their areas, promoting energy efficiency through local initiatives, and directing their residents towards national incentive and cashback schemes. This need not be unduly expensive for authorities, if tackled in an appropriate way, and through the development of partnerships. And the UK Government has an extensive energy efficiency programme which is available for local authorities to use and build on for inspiration and practical help.

B. Reasons for inclusion as a best practice example
The UK Government has pledged to place the environment at the heart of policy making and to combine environmental sustainability with economic and social progress. Energy efficiency is a key part of this policy, and is expected to play a significant role in a developing national strategy to meet climate change commitments following the Kyoto Protocol in December 1997.

Action at the local level is needed if the UK is to meet its targets, building on and strengthening national programmes and policies. The Home Energy Conservation Act ensures that local action and activity contributes to the bigger national objective.

The Act is a means to help local authorities make the most of the opportunities energy efficiency offers - contribute to the UK's climate change programme, tackle fuel poverty, create jobs and improve the health of those living in poor accommodation - by acting as a facilitator of change. The range of functions they perform enables them to motivate and influence, and they are best placed to respond directly to local views and wishes, placing a local emphasis to national policies, thus giving them practical effect in delivery.

The generalised manner in which the Act is formulated (principally through a statutory reporting requirement) gives local authorities considerable freedom to set their own priorities. It encourages them to build on existing programmes and initiatives, and to draw in partners from the public and private sectors to help take their plans forward.

The Act presents a challenge to local authorities, but it offers considerable potential to improve the local and national environment and make a substantial contribution to the achievement of the UK's climate change commitments.

The Act is an important piece of legislation, which has already begun to achieve its goal, by raising the importance of energy efficiency within local government, and by providing a focus for local energy efficiency activity. The UK Government has provided a framework of advice and programmes, and it is for each local authority to find the right way to integrate energy efficiency measures into all their activities.

The Home Energy Conservation Act demonstrates that national Governments can involve local government in the delivery of national climate change programmes, although it is perhaps too early to take informed decisions about the prospects of local authorities in England achieving the potential they set out in their energy conservation reports.

C. Difficulties encountered
A significant number of authorities had incorrectly assumed that they were required to finance all the measures identified in their energy conservation reports; however, the cost of domestic energy efficiency improvements - in privately-owned housing, for example - does not, and cannot be expected to, fall on local authorities themselves.

Not all authorities have yet embraced the concept of co-ordinating energy efficiency activity at the local level. In many cases there is no more than a "business as usual" case emerging where local authorities are promoting existing national programmes, but doing very little to adopt and adapt national initiatives for local implementation and promote energy efficiency locally.

At present, local authorities are reporting on all energy efficiency improvements achieved at the local level, whether as a result of national and local initiatives. Care will therefore be needed to avoid double-counting in assessing local results against the UK's national climate change programme.

III. Categorizing the Best Practice

1. Classifications
( X ) Regulatory approach
( ) Practical action
( ) Social network mechanism

2. Social actions involved
( X ) Citizens
( X ) Central Government
( X ) Local Government
( ) Business

3. Sector(s)
( ) Energy
( X ) Household
( ) Transportation
( ) Industrial enterprises
( ) Other (Non-Industrial) Business
( ) Agriculture/land use/forestry
( ) Other

4. Target greenhouse gas(es)
( X ) CO2
( X ) CH4
( X ) N2O
( X ) HFC
( X ) PFC
( X ) SF6
( ) Other

IV. List of Attachments

None

V. Contact

Mike Summerskill
Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions
Sustainable Energy Policy Division
Zone 6/D13, Ashdown House
123 Victoria Street
London SW1E 6DE

Telephone: +44 171 890 6682
Facsimile: +44 171 890 6679
E-mail: mike_summerskill@detr.gsi.gov.uk