North East losing out on millions in grants, warns MEP Fiona Hall

3.30.00pm GMT Mon 7th Jan 2008

Fiona Hall, Liberal Democrat Energy Spokesperson in Europe, has slammed poor promotion in the North East of a grants programme which could help the region do much more to lower its carbon footprint.

Statistics show that the North East is benefiting least out of all the regions in England from grants that are available under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP). The grants programme is managed by the Energy Savings Trust and provides sums of up to £2,500 for households to install low-carbon microgeneration technology devices.

Microgeneration technologies include solar photovoltaics, wind turbines, solar thermal hot water and ground source heat pumps. Generally these technologies are still considered to be expensive for most homeowners. However, with the availability of grants and the costs saved throughout the lifetime of the devices, many are becoming sensible options.

Commenting on the revelations, Lib Dem MEP for the North East Fiona Hall said:

"The figures show that the Energy Savings Trust has committed to grants totalling £137,066 across the North East. This is the lowest of all the English regions. Grants committed to the North West total £353,300. And grants to the South East and South West are a huge £1.8m and £1.5m respectively.

"Funds committed to Scotland are over twice the figure for the North East, and the figure for Wales is over half a million pounds. Within the UK, only Northern Ireland lags below the North East. A total of over £7m of grants have been committed to-date and the North East is due to receive less than 2% of that.

"It's not just about the money that the region is missing out on. These devices can help to lower our carbon footprints considerably. A typical domestic solar water heating system can provide around a third of an average household's hot water needs and reduces CO2 emissions by around 330kg a year.

"It seems that access to this funding pot has been poorly advertised in the North East. Yet people in this region have lower than average incomes and would benefit particularly from the funds.

"The North East has had to deal with summer floods and winter tidal surges and people are increasingly aware of climate change and the need to take action to control it.

"Households can log on to the site at www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk/home/ or give the Energy Savings Trust a call (0800 915 0990) and see whether they are eligible for a grant. But much more needs to be done to publicise this information - for instance through local and regional media."