HECA East
7th June 2013, 10.00 – 14.00
West Suffolk House, Western Way, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3YU
Minutes of Meeting
Agenda
09.30Welcome and refreshments
10.00 Introduction
10.15Minutes of last meeting, action points and matters arising
10.30Adoption of the Final Draft Memorandum of understanding (all)
11.00HECA East Logo
11.15Refreshments
11.30 Election of Officers
Nominations – Nick Costin – Chair
Paul Hinsley – Deputy (Vice) Chair
Peter Gudde – Committee Member
Sustainability East - Secretary
12.00Discussion on potential of joint meetings with NEA (all)
12.15 Sponsors slot (ARAN Services)
12.45AOB
13.00 Date and venue of next meeting (request for venue in West of Region)
13.05 Lunch sponsored by ARAN Services
14.00 Close of meeting
Any action points are detailed in red font below.
Minutes
Present
Richard Edwards / Aran Services (meeting sponsor)Ben Roberts / Aran Services (meeting sponsor)
Anna French / Braintree/Uttlesford
Dan Hewitt / British Gas
Debra Baillie-Murden / Broadland
Kirsty Burns / Broadland/South Norfolk
Nick Costin / Central Bedfordshire
Peter Chisnall (Interim Secretary) / Climate Energy
Mel Rundle / Colchester
Stevie Byrne / Daikin
Tina Mistry / Dyson
Rachel Doyle / East Cambs
Paul Hinsley / Essex
David Taylor / Harlow
Catherine Pittam / Ipswich
Gordon Jackson-Hopps / King's Lynn and West Norfolk
Ian Haines / Maldon
Karen Hill / North Norfolk
Sharon Malia / Peterborough
Andrew Oswald / St Edmondsbury
Peter Gudde (Interim Chair) / St Edmondsbury
David Walton / Suffolk
Teresa Howarth / Suffolk Coastal
Sandy Campbell / Waveney
Vin Appasawmy / Welwyn Hatfield
Apologies
Jamie Champness / Anesco
Janet Millar / Bedford
Daniel Curry / Change Agents
Estelle Agnew / Chelmsford
Cheryl Pashley / Colchester
Samantha Preston / Colchester
Vicki Nash / Dacorum
Karen Strandoo / Energy Saving Trust
Sarah Creitzman / Epping Forest
Lyndsay Swan / Epping Forest
David McCulloch / Tendring
Katherine Frost / Three Rivers
Neil Walker / Watford
1. Welcome and Introduction
PG welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained the agenda.He would act as chair for the whole of today’s meeting.
PG thanked Aran for their sponsorship of the meeting.
2. Minutes of last meeting
No matters arising all action points had been covered and minutes agreed as ok.
3. MOU
PG asked for any comments, as nothing was forthcoming he asked if all were in favour of adoption and this was agreed unanimously.
4. HECA East logo
PC reminded all that at the inaugural meeting last September, at the SMARTlife Centre in Cambridge, the group had indicated the preferred new name, HECA East and adoption of the old National CAN HECA logo. At that meeting Darsh Chauhan showed the logo and the group asked for a green coloured version rather than the blue.
PC showed the meeting the recent logo that had been adopted by the London HECA Forum, who had also reverted back to their old name. It was the national CAN HECA logo but a graduated colour vertically from Green to Blue (copy is attached to the email containing these minutes). Again it was put to the meeting and agreed that the HECA East logo should be of the same format.
PC agreed to get a draft of the logo and distribute it to members.
5. Election of Officers
PG introduced this item and told the meeting that unfortunately there was a slight change to the nominations received.
Nick Costin’s post at Central Bedfordshire had been made redundant and whilst he was applying for another post within Central Beds there was no guarantee that he would be able to carry out the functions of HECA East Chair is his new role if successful, so he had to withdraw his nomination.
PG wished NC every success in his application, however as a result PH indicated that he would be prepared to stand as Chair and PG as Vice Chair.
David Webb of Sustainability East had offered their services as Secretary.
PC asked that all these posts be treated en bloc and this was proposed by IH, seconded by TH and all were in favour.
6. Proposal of future joint meetings with NEA
PG read the email received from Paul Cartwright form the NEA asking if we would be prepared to combine our meetings with theirs in future. Their next meeting was 26thJune in Peterborough and obviously this could be done as our quarterly meeting had already been arranged but the next opportunity was in October.
The consensus of the group was that in principle this was a good idea and should be trialed in October subject to a mutually agreed venue, date and the issue of costs being resolved.
For the date MR requested that October half term be avoided to help those with child minding responsibilities.
With regard to cost it was agreed that this would have to be ironed out with NEA as the current HECA East arrangement of using a member Council venue and direct private sector sponsorship for refreshments resulted in the preferred method of not having to handle any monies.
PC raised the issue of meeting location as he had received representation from members in the West of the Region asking for consideration that a future meeting be held there. The general consensus of the group was sympathetic to this, however, a lot of members on the outskirts of the region indicated that for some of them it was always going to be a long journey to any venue that wasn’t in their immediate vicinity and that Cambridgeshire was as good a venue as any, equidistant (equally inconvenient!) for most.
RD offered Ely in East Cambs as a venue and the group asked that S.Cambs also be asked about the possibility of using Cambourne.
PC agreed to approach S.Cambs and contact NEA about a joint meeting in early to mid October provided the issue of venue, and costs could be resolved. In reality this would be the new secretary’s responsibility.
7. Sponsor’s slot
Ben Roberts gave a presentation (attached) on an update on Green Deal and Aran’s Pioneer Places project progress.
- Aran had submitted owner occupier GD Plan documentation to the Green Investment Bank and were hopeful it would be approved this month
- There is a problem with the format of the documentation dealing with Private Rented Sector GD Plans as under the Consumer Credit Act, CCA, there can only be one debtor and in the case of the PRS it could be that the landlord takes on the debt during void periods. This may require a change in legislation but will be rectified by the GD Finance Company ion Q4 2013.
- Social Rented GD Plans are ok as the landlords is regarded as a business and businesses are nor covered by the CCA.
- Aran have had 500 GD Assessments allocated under Pioneer Places.
378 have been assessed and 250 of these are outside of Suffolk, the software glitches have been resolved. - BR is working with the Global, Sustainability Institute in Cambridgeon producing a survey on feedback data from the assessments that will be submitted to DECC.
- BR detailed the eligibility criteria for ECO under the Home Heating Cost Reduction Obligation (HHCRO); Carbon Emissions Reduction Obligation (CERO); Carbon Savings Communities Obligation (CSCO) schemes.
TH asked whether HHCRO covers electric heating, BR thought not but MR informed the meeting that she had been told yes by an authoritative source. There followed a discussion on off as heating and the expense of electric heating.
BR suggested that the group lobby DECC for a change in the criteria.
BR confirmed that in all case loft and cavity insulation would be expected to be installed first before any other works could be considered. - BR detailed GD assessment costs for each ECO stream:
Maximum £99 though free in some cases
£99 for a GD Assessment Report, though this was refunded if measures installed through ARAN
Hard to Treat technical surveys (drill and boroscope) are free.
GJH asked about consents for Solid Wall Insulation works, particularly for buildings above 3 storeys, RE confirmed they had to be obtained. - ARAN are one of 3 GD Providers along with other industry participants, represented on the GD Arrangements Agreement panel that vet all Provider Accession applications.
- BR reminded the meeting that GD cashback is not retrospective and must be applied for before any works commence. It will be available until March 2014 and reviewed by DECC after.
Questions
PG asked for an idea of typical costs for a 3 bed semi with or without a GD?
BR detailed the fixed costs of GD, assessment, lodgement, registration fee (GDFC), interest rate all over 25 years. For CWI this could equal a cost of £1000 over 2 years compared to £400 outside GD.
There will be higher repayments if the length of term for the loan was less than 25 years or the expected life of the measure.
PG asked the business case for alternative funding. BR stated that the GD is nearly always the last resort that they mention to customers and they look for other funding streams before that, e.g. customer savings, mortgage extension, Nationwide BS 2.5% improvement grant.
TH - are there any GD Plans? BR stated that 100 GD Plans are currently being processed by the GDFC
AO asked about feedback from the Assessments that ARAN has completed, how many led to measures being installed? RE stated that the conversion rate was 30%.
BR confirmed that GD Cashback could be used on an energy plan (measures installed outside of a GD Plan), only criterion was that a GDAR had to have been done.
MR- How long does a GD Assessment take? BR – on average one hour for the EPC and 1 hour for the Occupancy Assessment, OA.
DW – explain the OA? The GD Advisor will look at the energy bills and the household energy use to see if it will influence the savings assumed by the EPC. DW stated that there was a danger that households could pay more than the Golden Rule as it is purely based on the EPC recommendations and results.
NC asked about ECO referrals. BR stated that they use a national lead generation company as they needed to find higher story and Hard To Treat, HTT properties and there are not that many in the East of England.
TM indicated that there are strict rules on HTT eligibility criteria set by OFGEM.
BR informed the meeting that GD Providers had to ensure that any measures under the GD had insurance backed warranties and guarantees as well as insurance to cover their role as a GD Provider if they were to go insolvent, i.e. for transfer of GD Plans to another Provider.
BR agreed that the presentation could be circulated by the secretary to all members.
8. AOB
TH asked the GD Providers in the room where they saw LAs fitting in. RE said to help in identifying vulnerable residents, particularly SWI measures and generally in promoting GD.
MR stated that it was difficult to promote ECO/GD as it was difficult to understand and condense. TM suggested to brand it as energy saving and links to health etc. When Dyson do this they look at GIS, engaging with communities, councillors, health representatives, credit unions, RSL. They pay referral fees to bodies.
MR said that it was still difficult for a part time energy officer to devote the time needed.
GJH stated that the challenge to LAs was to be more proactive in engaging with the GD, widen it to housing conditions and the health agenda. PG suggested a dedicated discussion group on the LGA Knowledge Hub.
DT stated that as the benefits of SWI become widely known it will generate feedback, particularly from Private Sector neighbours to Social rented sector properties where it was being installed. RE confirmed that this happens and gave the example of a recent project they had done with Chelmer HP.
GJH offered to do a presentation at the next meeting detailing their recent SWI project experience, warts and all.
DT stated that only about 2% of the SW properties in the country ahd been insulated.
PG asked about linking to the Health and Wellbeing Boards and perhaps producing a template letter for referrals into the Health Service. PC asked if this was a theme for a presentation at a future meeting?
SB from Daikin detailed their offering based on a model to provide ASHPs at no upfront cost, similar to the GD. They had just installed 290 in Tendring and would be happy to discuss with any LA.
PG suggested that an ASHP myth busting presentation for the next meeting.
GJH outlined the Collective Switching project in Norfolk, A branded website with each LA has their own offering. It has not worked brilliantly, in Kings Lynn/West Norfolk only 1000 households registered despite a notice in every Council Tax bill (68,000) and other marketing and promotion, but hopefully better next time. He is currently collating information on collective oil purchasing agreements. GJH indicated that there was a problem of demand exceeding supply and that meant that the small energy companies such as Ovo or the Co-op could not cope with a large influx of extra customers, leaving the big 6 to mop up.
AO asked about the typical average saving. GJH stated the initial average was £140 per household though this has reduced to £111. Special Tariffs are being developed for collective switching groups and he was looking to extend this to SME business customers.
SC indicated that Waveney have signed up to the Peterborough scheme.
DH referred to TH’s earlier question and suggested that LAs should work out first what they wanted before approaching Providers. Look at the ECO submission data required. It is possible to get cavities reinsulated to modern standards if they were done before the CIGA guarantee. DH said that often data was missing, e.g. number of bedrooms (needed for full ECO submission), the best way would be to supply the LAs with a template to complete.
TM confirmed that she would be willing to provide the Dyson template for stock condition data, different for social and private
PG asked if any LAs have got data and have any Providers used it? DBM said that Broadland had commissioned BRE to produce data modeled down to dwelling level at a cost of £30k. NC confirmed that Central Beds had done likewise. General consensus was that most data was in the public domain.
PG asserted that LAs may not be willing to work exclusively with one Provider.
Next Meeting
October, avoid half term and venue to be East Cambs or South Cambs. TBC after liaison with NEA.
RE expressed the meeting’s thanks to PC for his work in getting HECA East reformed from the initial meeting at the CAN conference in Chelmsford in March 2012. The St Edmondsbury legal team was thanked for their work on the MOU.
The meeting finished at 14.00 and thanks were given to the ARAN Services for providing the lunch.
Peter Chisnall10th June 2013 Draft minutes