Top of the table for energy cash

Fenland District Council has topped the Cambridgeshire league table for delivering Warmfront grants to make homes more energy efficient.

For the second quarter of the year, Fenland obtained Warmfront funding totalling £183,000, more than £50,000 more than number two in the league table - Huntingdonshire.

This has been achieved because Fenland takes a focused and proactive approach to encouraging and helping people to claim from this Government fund.

With winter soon on the horizon, Fenland has sent letters out to all 40,000 households encouraging them to look at grants for loft and cavity insulation, draft proofing, new central heating systems, repairs to old systems as well as for converting solid fuel open fires to glass-fronted gas fires.

People who are on benefits can receive the full cost of central heating improvements, while those who are not eligible can receive up to 50 per cent of the cost of such works. The grants are up to a maximum of £2,700, but in the case of homes with oil fired central heating, the maximum goes up to £4,000.

Where the cost of central heating is more than the maximum grant, the council has introduced a top-up scheme so that people on low incomes can afford to take advantage of the Warmfront Grant Scheme. The council has made a commitment to top-up Warmfront grants from its own budget, where it sees there is a need for additional support.

Cllr Jill Tuck, portfolio holder for community development and partnerships, said: "We recognise that there are many people in Fenland on low incomes, particularly elderly people, and that they need a little help to make their homes warmer and more energy efficient. We believe that helping people to access Warmfront Grants is a wonderful way of cutting people's energy bills and their carbon footprint.