The government has unveiled plans for rolling out insulation and low-carbon technology to seven million homes by 2020 in a bid to slash carbon emissions and to cut energy bills.

The London Assembly published a report, Lagging Behind - Insulating homes in London, in December 2008.

Darren Johnson AM, Chair of the London Assembly Environment Committee, said: "This announcement is a step forward and we are pleased the government has recognised many of the problems we raised in our report.

"The Assembly found that the plethora of available insulation schemes is confusing and that existing incentives are not effective enough to encourage people to take part. The government should learn from the difficulties in getting London homes insulated and ensure the process of getting insulation should be simplified. Our report flags up an extremely successful scheme in Huddersfield where the local council is providing an easy-to-use scheme, with installers working their way through every single street.

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"However, our investigation revealed that Londoners appear to be missing out on millions of pounds to help them insulate their homes because of the way funding from the major government programme aimed at reducing CO2 is being distributed. With the extension of CERT funding announced today, the government urgently needs to ensure that this scheme provides a fairer distribution of funding.

"Many more households need to insulate so they can benefit from lower bills and help cut carbon emissions at the same time."

(CD/JM)