The deal means the council will be able to insulate hundreds of homes and make them more energy efficient. It has provided us with a cash boost of nearly £68,000, taking the cash total for home insulation to £114,000.
The funding enables the council to install energy-saving measures in properties across the city and it will help residents to reduce their fuel bills as well as keep their homes warm through the winter.
This is the most recent benefit the council has secured in its partnership with Scottish Power. As well as the financial gains and the provision of competitively priced energy, the deal enables us to provide advice on energy efficiency and discounted energy-saving products, such as energy-efficient kettles and low-energy light bulbs.
Manchester's housing sector also benefits from the partnership through discounts on energy-efficient central heating boilers.
Alliance agreements are incredibly important for local authorities because since 1997 every local authority in the UK with housing responsibilities has been required to draw up plans to improve the energy-efficiency performance of the area's residential stock by around 30% by 2010. Each local authority has an agreed target for their area that they are responsible for achieving by that deadline.
And whereas local authorities are not expected to finance improvement in non-local authority houses in their area, they will need to find extra investment to improve the energy efficiency of their own stock if they are to meet their targets.
Source
Housing Today
Postscript
Brian Sexton, chief programme manager for housing at Manchester City Council, talked to Mahua Chatterjee
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