Nottingham City Council was awarded third place in the Local Authority of the Year category at the National Energy Efficiency Awards on Friday 14th October.
After being shortlisted for the Local Authority of the Year award for the fourth year in a row, the Carbon Reduction, Energy and Sustainability Division was recognised for the efforts to improve the efficiency of the City Council’s estate, as well as homes and business premises across Nottingham.
Over the past 12 months, more than 200 properties in the city, and a further 3,400 homes across the Midlands, have been improved with measures such as whole house retrofit, solar panels, insulation, and double glazing. Not only do these improvements support the city’s ambition to be carbon neutral by 2028, but they also support residents and businesses to reduce the money spent on energy bills.
36 businesses in Nottingham have also been helped through schemes such as Accelerating Reduction in Carbon, which offers SMEs grants of up to £16,000 to reduce carbon emissions by making energy efficiency improvements.
In addition to improving energy efficiency through retrofit measures, the City Council has helped 900 vulnerable households with energy saving advice, benefit checks and an emergency fund through the Warm Homes Hub. This scheme was delivered alongside Age UK, Nottingham Energy Partnership and E-On and brought £1m of support into the city.
The City Council also received a Special Commendation for work to improve social housing at Nottingham City Homes properties. Cold and draughty homes in the city have been transformed thanks to the City Council’s Greener HousiNG schemes, improving tenants’ quality of life while reducing bills and carbon emissions.
Councillor Sally Longford, Portfolio Holder for Energy, Environment and Waste Services, said: “I’m delighted that Nottingham City Council has been recognised on a national level for all of the brilliant work being done to improve energy efficiency in the city.
“The cost of living crisis and the climate crisis are two sides of the same coin, so our progress in this area is supporting two of our key agendas – reducing fuel poverty and working towards becoming a carbon neutral city by 2028. While we’ve made significant steps to date, we know that there is much more to be done. I would like to encourage those who are eligible to apply for the homeowner and business grants that are currently available.”
Wayne Bexton, Director of Environment, said: “I could not be prouder of the services across the directorate working hard to make a difference to the lives of people in Nottingham, and this recognition is a moment to reflect on the incredible work of the last 12 months.
“Our retrofit work is cutting carbon, helping to protect households from rising energy costs and improving the wider city environment. This type of work is driven by our dedicated teams, but also supported via our network of citywide partners who are ambitious to make Nottingham the most sustainable city in the UK and achieve carbon neutrality by 2028.”
Funding is currently available for low-income homeowners to have installation installed in their homes for free. More information on eligibility and application information can be found on Nottingham Energy Partnership’s website.