On behalf of Leeds City Region Partnership
The eleven local authorities across the city region have agreed to work together to deliver the Government’s Green Deal initiative, enabling in the first few years more than 12,000 homes to make energy saving home improvements reducing bills and carbon emissions.
The £100m Leeds City Region scheme could create over 600 new jobs in the three years and support up to 24,000 direct and supply chain jobs over the next twenty five years.
Councillor Mehboob Khan, Leeds City Region lead on the Green Deal explains:
“We are taking a dynamic approach to tackling fuel poverty, reducing health inequalities and creating jobs.
“Our scheme will be the largest in the country and our residents will be able to get a much better deal due to the economies of scale we are going to achieve by working collectively.”
This is an effective way for businesses and residents to pay for energy efficient improvements such as insulation and new heating systems. No householder should be worse off financially and the charge is attached to the electricity meter, paid through the electricity bill and remains with the house if it is sold or re-let. Successive occupiers therefore pay for and have the benefit of the works carried out.
The Leeds City Region Partnership in association with Construction and Housing Yorkshire will be running an event on Monday 29 April specifically designed for local SME construction, heating, insulation companies and sole traders to learn about the scheme, how it will generate opportunities including training and accreditation. For further details please see www.leedscityregion.gov.uk
The Partnership will be looking for a delivery partner to set up and manage the Leeds City Region Green Deal programme. The procurement process will start in May 2013.
Further information
Green Deal
1.Fuel poverty is prevalent across the whole of the city region, ranging from around 15 per cent to 22 per cent of households in the City Region. With ever increasing fuel bills, fuel poverty levels will also rise unless the significant and sustained energy efficiency improvements, such as through the Green Deal are delivered.
2.The Green Deal is a new way of enabling any householder (landlords, tenants, owner occupiers) to access up-front funding to carry out works to their property to improve the insulation, heating, glazing, lighting, heating controls and install renewable sources of heat and micro-generation.
3.The Leeds City Region scheme would seek to ensure that the majority of the jobs are created locally, particularly SMEs, and would provide a catalyst for growing the Low Carbon Sector.
The Leeds City Region Partnership
1.The Leeds City Region (LCR) Partnership brings together a group of 11 local authorities (Barnsley, Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, Selby, Wakefield, York and North Yorkshire County Council), its local enterprise partnership (LEP) and partners to support economic growth and a better quality of life for our communities.
2.To achieve this vision the Partnership is working to deliver a city region wide economic strategy, ‘The Plan’. The Plan’s objectives are to support business and enterprise, enable a skilled and flexible workforce, foster a low carbon, sustainable economy and create the infrastructure for growth.
3.To ensure effective delivery of these priorities the Partnership was one of the first to agree a ‘city deal’, securing Government support to deliver its flagship initiatives.
The Leeds City Region economy
1.The Leeds City Region is the largest city region economy and financial centre in the country outside London. With a £54billion economy representing 5 per cent of England’s economy, over 100,000 businesses and a 3 million population, the city region continues to be at the forefront in driving the economy of the North and accelerating national economic prosperity.
2.For more information on the Leeds City Region Partnership please visit www.leedscityregion.gov.uk