A Jesmond Green Party member has said the government’s new £6 billion insulation funding scheme is too small a sum to make a significant difference on the amount of insulating needed.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced that the scheme will start in January 2023 and will see increased funding for insulation last until March 2026 – in hope that by 2030 the UK will have reduced its energy consumption by 15%.

Hunt stated that, “Our new ECO+ scheme will help hundreds of thousands of people across the UK to better insulate their homes to reduce consumption, with the added benefit of saving families hundreds of pounds each year”.

However, the planned investment has been called insignificant by Tony Waterston, who has previously stood for the Green Party in local elections.

Waterston told JesmondLocal: “It’s extraordinary we’re not getting an appropriate level of help from the government, it is rough for individuals to have to take the brunt of bringing about change themselves.”

Waterston said: “The sums are too small to make a significant difference to the mountain of insulating that is needed.”

Although calling for more help from the government, Waterston gave JesmondLocal his best advice for residents of Jesmond on how to reduce energy consumption.

“You obviously have to put some money into it, but a lot of these are low cost measures such as: thermal lining to curtains, double glazing, floor/loft insulation and sealing doors.”

Waterston said he was shocked that more people don’t have solar panels. “Any light allows for solar panels to work, the need for sunlight is a common misconception, it is such a valuable investment, they are a really great starting point.”

The Green Party member called for long-term residents to invest in renewable energy.

“If you have the money, heat pumps are a fantastic investment. They replace your gas boiler and you’ll never have to pay for gas again.”

Waterson believed the most recent warning that the UK received from the United Nations, about the ongoing planet crisis, was a wake up call for the government to move faster on reducing our alliance on fossil fuels.

How Britain’s new insulation scheme will work

The government’s existing insulation subsidies were solely targeted at people with low income or those who live in social housing.

Under the new scheme, it estimated that up to 80% of the subsidies will be available to people who do not qualify for income-based assistance, but whose homes are not energy efficient and fall outside the top bands for local property taxes, according to the fiscal statement released on 17th November.

According to the ONS (Office for National Statistics), no region in the UK had ‘energy efficient’ households. As highlighted below, the mean energy efficiency rating for the North East is 67, which is equivalent to a band D classification; the third lowest band.