Are you eligible for the government’s £1bn scheme to insulate middle-income homes?
The government will spend an extra £1bn to insulate the least energy-efficient homes in the UK, the business secretary has announced.
Grant Shapps said the new Eco+ scheme was aimed at middle earners who do not benefit from any other government support to upgrade homes.
Labour criticised it as a “reheated announcement with no new resources” and as “far too little too late”.
Is your home eligible?
Hundreds of thousands of households could receive loft and cavity wall insulation under the scheme, which will run for three years from spring.
A fifth of the funding will be targeted at the most vulnerable households.
Homes with an energy efficiency rating of D or below will be able to benefit from the scheme if they are in council tax bands A-D in England, A-E in Scotland and A-C in Wales.
The ECO scheme, which is already in place, focuses on low-income and vulnerable households.
Mr Shapps told Sky News: “This money is for people who have not been able to benefit from the previous schemes and will help hundreds of thousands of homes.”
Public information campaign on how to reduce energy use
A new £18m public information campaign will also offer advice on how to reduce energy use in the home.
Guidance to be published on the help for households website said reducing boiler flow temperatures from 75C to 60C and turning down radiators in empty rooms could save a typical household £160 a year.
Mr Shapps said he had turned down the boiler flow temperature at his ow home.
“This is not your thermostat. This is in the boiler itself. And it can potentially save you a lot of money,” he said.
“So it’s actually simple tips like that which we will be announcing and there’s an £18m campaign to back that as well. So lots of practical help physically improving people’s homes and also tips to make sure that people are able to save themselves money by being more efficient in the homes.”
A previous attempt to introduce such a campaign was blocked by Liz Truss’s administration over concerns it was too “nanny state”.
The government has set an ambition of reducing energy use by 15% by 2030 as it battles spiking energy prices caused by Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Grant Shapps said the scheme would save people hundreds of pounds and create jobs
‘Sunak wants to crawl towards warmer homes’
Ed Miliband, the shadow climate change secretary, said: “This reheated announcement with no new resources is far too little too late and will help only a tiny fraction of the millions of people facing a cost-of-living emergency this winter.
“Labour’s warm homes plan would insulate up to two million homes a year, saving pensioners and families up to £1,000 off their energy bills.
“Rishi Sunak wants to crawl towards warmer homes and cheaper bills for our country. Labour will sprint for it – because that’s what the bills crisis demands.”
Funding ‘not nearly enough’
Greenpeace UK energy campaigner Georgia Whitaker warned the funding was not nearly enough, as seven million homes are suffering fuel poverty and 19 million homes in England and Wales are badly insulated.
“This is a drop in the ocean compared to what people actually need to stay warm and well this winter and in the winters to come,” she said.
“At least £6bn is needed by the end of this Parliament for a nationwide insulation programme that will not only help reduce our emissions but will also reduce the terrible levels of fuel poverty in the UK.
“The sooner the government realises this and actually gets going the sooner we’ll have more affordable bills, more energy security and a more stable climate.”
The first-ever Capture case has been delayed at the Court of Appeal as the Post Office asks for an extension to respond, Sky News has learned.
Pat Owen, a former sub postmistress who has since passed away, was convicted of stealing in 1998 based on evidence from computer software.
The system, known as Capture, was used in up to 2,500 branches in the 1990s, before the infamous Horizon system was introduced.
Hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongfully convicted between 1999 and 2015 as part of the Horizon scandal.
Earlier this year, Sky News unearthed a 1998 report showing the Capture software was also faulty.
That report, commissioned by the solicitors acting for Mrs Owen in 1998, was served on the Post Office and may never have been seen by the jury in her case.
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‘All we want is her name cleared’
Ms Owen was given a suspended prison sentence and fought to clear her name subsequently – but died in 2003.
Her case was referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to the Court of Appeal in October.
The Post Office had until 5 December to respond to papers put forward by Mrs Owen’s defence team but they have now asked for an extension until 30 January.
Ms Owen’s daughter, Juliet Shardlow, described the family’s suffering at the lengthening wait.
“I need to emphasise the profound impact the ongoing delay is having on our family,” she said.
“The continuous uncertainty only compounds our heartache, stress, and anxiety.
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Alan Bates: New redress scheme ‘half-baked’
“It has become the last thing I think about before I go to sleep and the first thing when I wake up.
“We have waited 27 years for justice, and this additional wait feels never-ending.”
Ms Owen’s case is the first time a conviction based on Capture has reached the Court of Appeal since the scandal was exposed.
Read more from Sky News:
Corporate manslaughter charges considered in Post Office scandal
21 ‘Capture’ cases investigated for miscarriages of justice
Lawyers have said that if Ms Owen is exonerated posthumously, it may “speed up” the handling of others.
CCRC chair Dame Vera Baird also told Sky News in the summer it could be a “touchstone case” for other victims.
The CCRC is also continuing to investigate around 30 other “pre-Horizon” convictions.
A Post Office spokesperson said: “We have sought an extension of time to fully consider and respond to the CCRC’s Statement of Reasons in Ms Owen’s case.
“We deeply regret the impact our request for further time will have on Ms Owen’s family.
“We have a duty to carefully consider the evidence presented in the Statement of Reasons submitted by the CCRC and do everything we can to fully assist the Court when it considers this conviction.”
Meanwhile, the first-ever redress scheme for victims of the Post Office Capture IT scandal was launched this autumn.
The Capture Redress Scheme will provide payments of up to £300,000, and more in “exceptional” cases, to former postmasters who suffered financial losses.
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