In its report Energy Efficiency and Fuel Poverty, an influential committee of MPs backs calls in the Local Government Association's (LGA) Small Change, Big Difference campaign for councils to lead on cutting fuel poverty and delivering energy efficient homes.

The Select Committee for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs report says that in order to speed up action on energy efficiency, various different programmes should be joined together and delivered by local councils.

The report says: "To ensure more rapid improvement of the entire English housing stock, the range of current energy efficiency programmes should be consolidated into one comprehensive area-based programme to upgrade all homes and to be delivered by local authorities."

Councils have previously said that they should be at the centre of plans for cutting the carbon emissions coming from people’s homes. They say that the current programme for insulating homes, known as CERT, which is run by energy firms and paid for through a levy on customers' bills, should be replaced by a national home insulation programme led by councils.

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The Select Committee report says the Government should: "Create a central budget into which energy companies pay their CERT contributions so that they can be pooled with money from other programmes, to fund a single consolidated comprehensive, area-based programme led by local authorities to deliver the national plan."

Cllr Paul Bettison, Chairman of the LGA Environment board, said: "Councils are on the frontline in the fight against climate change. It is only councils that have both the knowledge of a local area and a strong connection with households. There is a compelling case for giving local authorities a much stronger role in improving energy efficiency and to take the lead in a national home insulation programme.

"Too much money is being wasted and too many people who need help with insulation are not getting it. A national insulation programme would dramatically reduce carbon emissions and harness the desire of householders to make their homes more energy efficient.

"Meeting this country's ambitious targets to reduce carbon emissions and help households manage rising fuel costs will require ambitious policies. The Government should consider these proposals, which would be good news for the environment, tackle fuel poverty and reduce bills for ordinary families. Insulating more homes would help create 4,000 jobs and save consumers over £300 million a year."

(CD/JM)