Council leaders have been urged to join the campaign for a national home insulation programme that would lift 500,000 people out of fuel poverty, cut £200 a year off the energy bills of 10 million households and reduce domestic carbon emissions by 20%.

The leaders of all four political groups at the Local Government Association (LGA) have written to the leaders of all councils in England and Wales asking them to lobby their local MPs over the proposals.

The LGA is campaigning for councils to be put at the centre of the insulation scheme, which would be funded through the six main energy suppliers matching pound for pound the existing contribution households are already making through their bills to cut carbon emissions. These proposals form a central plank of the Association's Small Change, Big Difference climate change campaign.

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David Shakespeare, Leader of the LGA Conservative Group, said: "The LGA's proposals to fight fuel poverty and cut carbon emissions have councils at their core. It is only local government with its intricate knowledge of the country's housing stock that can deliver a national home insulation programme.

"Councils are on the front line in the fight against climate change. The LGA group leaders are now urging all council leaders to lobby their local MPs to build up a groundswell of support for our proposals. A national home insulation programme is the best long-term solution to the two challenges of fighting fuel poverty and cutting domestic carbon emissions."

(CD/NS)