Minutes of the - Carbon Action Network

Minutes
East Midlands CAN Meeting
Wednesday 15 April 2015
LCB Depot, 31 Rutland Street, Leicester, LE1 1RE
1. Attendees and Apologies
Attendees:
Milo
Cereghino Leicester City Council
Mike
Richardson Leicester City Council
Jenny
French
Ashfield District Council
Helen
Chadwick
Harborough District Council
Tom
Veitch
Global Action Plan
Geoff
Davenport Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council
Aidan
Davis
Leicester Energy Agency
David
Young
Climate Change, What's Your Plan
Rob
Leeson
Carbon Action Network Secretariat
Nicola
Holt
Carbon Management for Leicester SMEs
Darsh
Chauhan
East Midlands Carbon Action Network
Stuart
Maris
Matildas Planet
Sharmila Dalal
British Gas
Karen
Lond
West Lindsey District Council
Mark
Ducker
National Grid Affordable Warmth Solutions
Jo
Giles
National Grid Affordable Warmth Solutions
Richard Chubb
Rutland County Council
Apologies:
Sean Johnson – Lincolnshire County Council
Hadrian Asher – Boston Mayflower
Andrew Pooley – Broxtowe Borough Council
Rob Cartwright
Justine Biggs – E.ON UK
Sara Earl – Corby Borough Council
Denise Marsdon – Flourish Partnership
Anne-Marie Coulthard – South Kesteven District Council
2. Chair’s Update – Karen Lond
 Minutes & matters arising from previous meeting
The last meeting scheduled for December had to be cancelled, due to the lack of
attendees.
Minutes from the meeting in September 2014, held in Leicester, were accepted as a true
record of the meeting.
 National CAN Update
CAN Executive meeting last October 2014.
- The CAN Executive decided to look into a two day conference, in the hope of getting
the entire network together.
- Due to the election the conference is scheduled for October 2015.
- E.ON’s sponsorship for National CAN finished last September 2014.
- The last CAN conference was in October at the Ricoh Arena, which went really well.
CAN Executive meeting and Chairs Away Day were held in January 2015.
- They discussed the objectives for CAN – Health, Localism and Community Energy.
- The CAN Executive developed a letter to be sent to all the main political parties to
highlight our concerns in energy efficiency and fuel poverty. This was based on the
responses from the winter survey of members, Fuel Poverty consultation work and
network meetings.
The next CAN Executive meeting is Thursday 16 April 2015.
 HECA reporting March 2015
DECC issued letters to the Chief Executives to request the HECA reports on 22 January
2015. The HECA reports were published on the Energy Conservation Authorities websites
on 31 March 2015, and a link was sent to DECC. Steve Ives acknowledged receipt of the
link, which confirms he is still at DECC working on HECA reporting.
 Private Rented Sector
The consultation on the Private Rented Sector was published by DECC on 5 February.
National CAN produced a response to this consultation.
 Fuel Poverty Strategy
The Fuel Poverty Strategy response was published by DECC in March 2015. EMCAN and
CAN submitted separate responses. The targets have remained very woolly, even though
the EMCAN response specifically focussed on the sharpening up of targets.
 Fuel Poverty Advisory Group (FPAG)
The FPAG published the 12th annual report on 23 February, there is reference to the work
of the Off Gas Grid working group. KL represents National CAN at the Off Gas Grid
working group.
 DECC – Central Heating Fund
The aim of the fund is to incentivise the installation of first time central heating systems, in
fuel poor households. Applications need to be submitted between 25 March and 5 June
2015. Cost effectiveness will come into the bidding process; DECC have assured KL that
there will be weighting given to rural off grid to take account of the increased costs to
deliver measures in sparsely populated rural areas.

NEA – New £26.2 million programme
Commencing in April 2015, and running for two or three years, to address some of the
properties identified in the Fuel Poverty Strategy. There are three elements for the
programme:
- Warm Zones Fund (£13 Million)
- Technical Innovation Fund
- Warm and Healthy Homes fund
KL followed the link to register interest and got an acknowledgement email.
Q: Where has this fund come from?
A: CESP funding – Hoping that the NEA will focus on CESP areas.
 ECO – Energy Scheme ‘neglects rural homes’
1.7 million rural households have paid an estimated £42 in levies on their electricity bills
over the last two years to fund the ECO scheme. Together, the 1.7 million rural
households contributed more than £70m, but measures installed are worth just £3.5m.
ECO has helped as few as 1,500 rural households.
 Upcoming Events
– Health, Planning and Environment learning forum, Leicester, Friday 17 April.
– The General Election, Thursday 7 May 2015.
– Securing health service funding to address cold homes, Leicester, Friday 13 May.
– NEA Fuel Poverty Forum, Nottingham, May/June.
– Next EMCAN meeting in July 2015, KL invited any offers of low cost or free venues. KL
invited suggestions for speakers and topics.
3. Election of Chair, Vice Chair and Secretariat
There were no nominations for the positions of Chair and Vice Chair so Karen Lond and
Darsh Chauhan agreed to continue in their respective positions. David Young, Leicester
City Council, was elected as EMCAN Secretariat.
4. Treasurer’s Report
DC thanked Matildas Blanket for sponsoring the meeting. EMCAN is still looking for
sponsorship in the long term. EMCAN still has some money to carry over into the new
financial year. EMCAN does not owe any money.
KL suggested that the next meeting is held somewhere we can visit a project that has
been successful. Jenny French offered a venue at Ashfield District Council, as well as a
site visit and update on their GD programme.
Action: Jenny French to enquire about sponsorship for meal and minibus etc, to see GD
project.
5. Matilda’s Blanket – Internal Wall Insulation, Stuart Maris, Matilasplanet
The presentation is available on the website. Contact Stuart Maris on
Stuart.Maris@matildasplanet.co.uk.
Q: Can people choose rooms to be done?
A: Yes, they can be assessed to help see the benefits before the work begins.
Q: Is Matilda’s Blanket recognised by ECO and are suppliers giving good feedback?
A: Yes it is recognised by ECO. Matilda’s Blanket is recognised by many suppliers now
and is building momentum. It is important to understand the priorities of the client. For
example, if they want to spend money on a new boiler, what is the reason behind that and
can more money be saved from installing insulation?
6. National Grid Social Obligations and Engaging with Fuel Poor Households in the
East Midlands, Mark Ducker and Jo Giles, National Grid Affordable Warmth
The presentation is available on the website. Contact Jo Giles at
Jo.giles@nationalgrid.com or Mark Ducker at mark.ducker@ngrid-aws.org.uk.
7. Big Energy Race, Tom Veitch, Global Action Plan
The presentation is available on the website. For further enquiries visit
http://www.globalactionplan.org.uk/
Q: Have you looked into taking the programme into schools?
A:.We currently have a large online schools programme focussing on water saving
http://www.waterexplorer.org/ which is taking place in 11 different countries.
8. Regional Updates – LA Officers
Jenny French, Ashfield District Council – Green Deal Community Scheme is still
progressing, 100 completed so far, with a target of 250 by September.
Information for KL to take to CAN Executive – there is a lack of direction in the Fuel
Poverty Strategy. There was a lot of a push before the strategy, but despite LA comments
there is no real push for LAs now.
9. Date of next meeting
Date of next EMCAN meeting will be at Ashfield District Council, Monday 20 July 2015.
10. Any other business
There was no other business.