Agenda item

Energy Efficiency Of Housing

It was moved by Councillor Colin Ross, seconded by Councillor Steve Ayris, that this Council:-

(a)       notes that under Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the Rt. Hon Ed Davey MP, the previous Coalition Government advanced the cause of green energy;

(b)       regrets that much of this good work is being undone by the present Government;

(c)        specifically, notes that financial incentives for the installation of solar panels on the roofs of Council houses are being cut from January 2016;

(d)       understands that there are approximately 1,200 Council houses due to have new roofs in the time frame and this provides an ideal opportunity for the solar panels to be installed at the same time;

(e)       believes this would enable Council tenants to benefit from a renewable carbon free energy source and save on their energy bills; and

(f)        therefore calls upon the Administration to act rapidly to make use of the window of opportunity before the financial incentives are withdrawn.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Jayne Dunn, seconded by Councillor Karen McGowan, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of all the words after the words “That this Council” and the addition of the following words:-

(a)       notes that the previous Coalition Government, of which the Liberal Democrats were a part:

(i)       cut funding for the Warm Front scheme and the Energy Company Obligation scheme;

(ii)      abandoned a pledge to make all new homes "zero-carbon" by 2016, allowing housebuilders to pay their way out of their full obligations; and

(iii)     failed to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and introduced what this Council believes to be extraordinarily generous tax allowances for companies getting into exploration for fracking in the 2014 Budget;

(b)        is committed to improving the energy efficiency of Sheffield’s housing stock to reduce bills, prevent health problems related to cold and damp housing and cut CO2 emissions;

(c)         welcomes the Administration’s ambition to increase Sheffield’s energy generating and distribution capacity, including decarbonised, locally generated energy sources, to give Sheffield a competitive advantage over other locations and support future economic growth; and

(d)        recalls progress made on energy efficiency under the previous Labour Government, in particular through the Decent Homes programme for social housing and Warm Front, which helped over 2 million households improve their energy efficiency and insulation.

On being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

The original Motion, as amended, was put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-