ESSEX has been awarded £6 million to help residents with their energy bills and tackle fuel poverty.

Councils in Essex have been awarded £6 million from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Warm Homes: Local Grant.

The money will be used to help Essex residents with their energy bills. It will also support efforts to tackle fuel poverty in the county over the next three years.

It was awarded following a successful consortium bid led by the county council. The bid was in partnership with all the district, city, borough and unitary councils in Greater Essex except for Basildon Council, which submitted its own bid.

Funding will be used to retrofit households that are currently not energy efficient. The aim is to:

improve fuel poor homes to energy efficiency band C
progress towards net zero targets
A ‘whole house’ approach will be taken to help make homes more energy efficient. This includes measures such as insulation, heat pumps and solar panels. Each home will be evaluated to determine what will be installed.

Essex County Council Climate Czar and Cabinet Member for Environment, Waste Reduction and Recycling, Councillor Peter Schwier, said: “We’re pleased our partnership bid was successful. This new funding will make a major difference to the county’s most vulnerable residents over the coming years.

“No one should be living in fuel poverty. This, and climate change, are two significant issues we are continuing to take extremely seriously in Essex.

“Working with our partners, we continue to look for new ways to improve the lives of our residents and protect the environment, now and for the future.”

The new grant is the first step to help delivering the Warm Homes Plan. The plan will help up to 300,000 homes across England find ways to save money on energy bills. It will also help to heat homes with cleaner energy.

The Warm Homes: Local Grant is aimed at low-income and vulnerable households. This includes both owned and rented properties.

Applications to receive help from the Warm Homes: Local Grant in Essex will open in the summer.