North Homes Retrofit: The Health Dividend

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Author: Sue Adams, CEO of Care & Repair England

The Covid-19 pandemic has focussed attention on the connections between poor quality housing, people’s health and wellbeing. The pandemic has also ‘exposed and amplified housing-related health inequalities’ [Kings Fund, 2020] and revealed that sectors of the population who are more likely to live in poor housing (older people, those with long-term health conditions, BAME groups, those on low incomes) are often the same groups more vulnerable to Covid-19.

This disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on disadvantaged communities has been starkly evident in the North, as more evidence emerges of the significant geographical differences in death rates and falling life expectancy (Marmot, 2021).

Even before the pandemic, austerity had taken its toll on the health of people living in disadvantaged areas of the North. Whilst life expectancy rose in most places from 2000-2010, from 2010 in some areas it started to decline. By 2014 that life expectancy deterioration had accelerated, and the worst-hit places were urban areas in the North, including Blackpool, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle (Lancet Public Health Journal, 2021).

The Commission for Housing in the North played a critical role in highlighting the poor condition of many existing homes in the North, noting that national housing policy and resources were focused on new home building, whilst maintaining or improving our current housing stock was, to say the least, a neglected area.

Following on from this observation by the Commission, the NHC tasked the Smith Institute to examine the health impacts and wider costs of poor housing.  The hidden costs of poor quality housing in the North identified the scale of costs to the NHS and social care, as well as negative economic, welfare and environmental impacts. It also revealed the high concentration of non-decent homes in the owner occupied sector in the North, with 1 million households affected compared with 354,000 private rented.

The worst affected households were older home owners, and that situation continues to this day. Shockingly, our recent analysis of non-decent homes data reveals a rise of 31% in the number of those over 75yrs living in a non-decent home, with a disproportionate impact on those living in the North. A third of all of the non-decent homes occupied by householders over 75yrs in England (700,705) are in the North (233,425). Given the increasingly serious health impacts of cold, hazardous homes as people age, this has potentially dire consequences for the NHS.

Sadly, despite the Commission’s recommendations and NHC/ Smith Institute evidence, when it came to housing renewal policy, funding or action, little changed over the subsequent five years and to this day there is no dedicated, national capital funding or programme to improve non-decent homes.

However, the challenge of climate change has now highlighted the critical importance of retrofitting the existing housing stock to reduce carbon emissions, with NHC championing the case for investment to improve the thermal standards of homes in the North.

Social landlords can undoubtedly play a key role in this housing transformation, and they could make a huge difference not only for their own tenants but also for those living in other tenures. As early supporters and developers of original Care & Repair and home improvement agencies, they demonstrated vision and wider social purpose. It is no accident that most of the remaining Care & Repair services that are still delivering housing help that goes beyond Disabled Facilities Grants (important as these remain) are in the North of England. They continue to be the leading national pioneers, including targeting housing interventions at the most at risk NHS patients e.g. Manchester Care & Repair contacts and offers housing help to every older patient discharged from hospital.

The Northern Mayors are making the links between action on climate change, improving current homes, health inequalities, employment creation, and economic regeneration. There is a strong case for CO reduction retrofit programmes to incorporate small but critical ‘Healthy Homes’ measures to tackle other non-decent homes hazards (e.g. falls) into programmes of work. For a very small additional cost the health dividend would be significant, and it would leave homes not only warmer but also healthier and safer for generations of occupants.

With the necessary investment, the North could be the first demonstrate far reaching fiscal and social benefits of co-ordinated housing retrofit, including health gains and reductions in health inequalities. Let us hope some of those making decisions at COP26 are listening.

 

Heat and Buildings Strategy Published

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The Heat and Buildings Strategy has finally been published and will have wide-reaching implications for households, landlords and councils.

The package of measures in the strategy amounts to a £3.9bn from Government, of which £450m will be spent on grants subsidising the upfront cost of heat pumps for homes. £800 million has been pledged for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund over the next 3 years, with a further £950m for Home Upgrade Grants.  The Strategy also announced that Government intends to consult on a long-term regulatory standard to improve social housing to EPC C.

The Heat and Buildings Strategy builds on pledges made in the government’s 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, and the Energy White Paper.

Pledges included:

  • £3.9 billion funding package to decarbonise heat and buildings.
  • £5,000 government grants from April next year through a £450 million 3-year Boiler Upgrade Scheme to help install low-carbon heating systems. (This is not open to social landlords, but will run alongside other funding packages such as the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund).
  • £60 million Heat-Pump Ready Innovation Fund to make clean heat systems smaller and easier to install and cheaper to run.
  • All new heating systems installed in UK homes from 2035 to be low carbon.
  • At local level, continued support for the Local Net Zero Hubs (previously known as the local energy hubs).

The £3.9bn funding for decarbonising heat and buildings for the 3-year spending review period 2022 to 2025 is broken down as follows:

  • £950 million for the Home Upgrade Grant scheme
  • £800 million for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund
  • £450 million for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme
  • £338 million for the Heat Network Transformation Programme
  • £1.425 billion through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme

Also launched is the Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener.  This strategy sets out policies and proposals for decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy to meet net zero target by 2050.

Local Climate Action

Key Points in the Strategy

  • Set clearer expectations on how central and local government interact in the delivery of net zero.
  • Build on existing engagement with local actors by establishing a Local Net Zero Forum to bring together national and local government senior officials on a regular basis to discuss policy and delivery options on net zero.
  • Continue the Local Net Zero Programme to support all local areas with their capability and capacity

The Strategy recognises the role of local government in meeting climate targets and sets expectations on how central and local government interact.

Government will continue to support the Local Net Zero Hubs (previously known as the local energy hubs). The North is home to two such Hubs – the North West Hub, based at Liverpool City Region; and the North East and Yorkshire Hub, hosted by Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority.

BEIS will establish Local Net Zero Forums to bring together national and local government to discuss policy and delivery options on net zero.  Chaired by BEIS, the Forum will be cross departmental and bring together national and local government senior officials on a regular basis to discuss policy and delivery options on net zero.  The Forum will support the establishment of clearer delivery roles for local government and provide a single engagement route into HM Government in a coordinated and coherent way.

The Strategy recognises that there are multiple funding streams at local level and a review will look to simplify and consolidate funds which target net zero initiatives at the local level where this provides the best approach to tackling climate change.

For local planning authorities there will be a review of the National Planning Policy Framework to make sure it contributes to climate change mitigation and adaptation as fully as possible.

Measures to increase heat pump installations

Key Points in the Strategy:

  • reduce the upfront and running costs
  • improve installation process and increase consumer satisfaction
  • increase public awareness and consumer familiarity
  • improve UK supply chain capacity and capability

Heat pumps are recognised by the Strategy as a key solution for decarbonising homes.  In addition to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme described above, a number of other measures have been announced. The Heat Pump Ready Programme will support the development of innovative solutions across the heat pump sector. The programme is expected to launch in winter 2021.  Heat Pump Ready innovation programme, part of the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio.

Government aims to drive down the cost of low carbon heating technologies like heat pumps, with heat pumps costing the same to buy and run as fossil fuel boilers by 2030, with big cost reductions of between a quarter and a half by 2025 expected as the market expands and technology develops.

Householders will not be forced to remove their existing fossil fuel boilers, with this transition over the next 14 years seeing households gradually move away from fossil fuel boilers.

To ensure electric heat pumps will be no more expensive to run than gas boilers, Government wants to reduce the price of electricity over the next decade by shifting levies away from electricity to gas. A call for evidence is expected to be published with decisions made in 2022.

A Heat Network Efficiency Scheme (HNES) demonstrator programme will help existing heat network projects ensure they are running at optimal levels to maximise carbon savings and heating services provided to households and businesses.

Green Skills

Key Points in the Strategy

  • Publish sector and supply chain development plans for key low carbon sectors
  • Work with business to encourage investment in green skills
  • Support the development of a skilled, competitive supply chain
  • Legislate for skills required for jobs that support action on climate change
  • Deliver a Lifetime Skills Guarantee and grow key post-16 training programmes
  • Introduce a sustainability and climate change strategy for education

The Strategy recognises in the construction and heating sectors, up to 230,000 skilled trades people could be required in 2030 to deliver the retrofitting of houses and to meet our ambition of installing 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028, we will need to rapidly increase the number of qualified installers from around 3,000 to 35,000 within the next 7 years.

The Strategy addresses the challenges set out by the Green Jobs Taskforce and that these require further work through the cross-cutting delivery group, maintaining the momentum generated by the Taskforce to drive action across the green skills agenda.  Further evidence is required on the skills gaps which could hamper the net zero transition if left unaddressed, and to identify further opportunities to flex key skills programmes to support green sectors and occupations.

Further consultations

The Strategy either launches or promises consultation in several areas:

  • A consultation will be held on the case for enabling or requiring new gas boilers to be readily convertible to use hydrogen (‘hydrogen-ready’) by 2026.
  • Consideration will be given to setting a long-term regulatory standard to improve social housing to EPC band C. Consultation will be held with the sector before setting any regulatory standard.
  • A Fairness and Affordability Call for Evidence will be launched on these options for energy levies and obligations to help rebalance electricity and gas prices and to support green choices, with a view to taking decisions in 2022.
  • A consultation is launched seeking views on proposals to introduce a market-based mechanism to support the development of the UK market for low-carbon electric heat pumps.
  • Phasing out fossil fuel heating in homes off the gas grid Government is seeking views on proposals to phase out the installation of fossil fuel heating systems in homes off the gas grid.
  • The Government published its response to the Clean Heat Grant proposals within the Future support for low carbon heatconsultation, which sets out plans for a Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

NHC Reaction

A new funding injection of £450m over three years for heat pump installation is a boost for the manufacturing and installation of this technology, but we must consider the scale of the transformation needed.

In the North alone this includes an estimated 4.6 million homes needing heat pump installation, and 1.1 million homes to be connected to heat networks.

£450m delivered via individual £5,000 grants will mean 90,000 heat pump installations over three years which falls short of the Government’s aim to deliver 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028. Of the 600,000 heat pump installations a year by 2028 – half will be to existing housing, requiring insulation first.  There will be just three years to make this transformation happen.

Investment will help to drive down the cost of heat pumps, and technical innovation plus skills training is a part of this, but so is the scale of the challenge.

The Strategy talks about regional differences and the need for local supply chains to be developed, and the retention of local Energy Hubs is a positive here. It will be important the awaited Levelling Up White Paper takes account of this economic opportunity.

Tracy Harrison, NHC Chief Executive said,

“Whilst we welcome today’s announcement, the Government have missed the opportunity to make a far bigger impact on their net zero and levelling-up agendas. Accelerating and targeting investment in the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund would have injected certainty into regional supply chains, laying the ground for tens of thousands of good green jobs across the North. The Chancellor must use next week’s Spending Review to confirm that today’s announcements are just the start of a more ambitious long-term investment plan.”

In our submission to the Chancellor as part of the three-year Spending Review we have called for the acceleration of Conservative Manifesto commitments to bring forward the full £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund into this Spending Review period (2022-23 to 2024-25).  The offer of £800 million released for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund over the spending review period is modest in comparison to the scale we estimate is needed to incentivise the market.

The full release of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund would unlock a further £2.1bn of contributions from landlords, creating a total investment of more than £8.4bn in energy efficiency nationally.

We also recommended to Government that investment is allocated via BEIS’ local Energy Hubs on the basis of each Hub’s share of England’s fuel poor households. This would result in a £2bn investment in energy efficiency across the North from Government, co-funded with over £700m from social and private landlords, creating a combined £2.76bn investment in the North’s homes over this spending review period: tangible evidence of Government’s commitment to levelling-up.

Read the NHC’s spending review submission here and look out for our on-the-day briefing when the Chancellor sets out his spending plans next Wednesday, 27th October..

Spending Review 2021: NHC makes the case on net zero and levelling-up

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Chancellor Rishi Sunak will present his multi-year spending review next week – and the NHC has been making the case that housing in the North can help him deliver on net zero and levelling-up.

Our Spending Review Representation focuses on three key priorities:

Delivering on net zero and levelling-up through a programme of green home upgrades

We’re urging the Chancellor to confirm and accelerate Conservative Manifesto commitments to invest in green home upgrades.  We argue that:

  1. The full £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund should be brought forward into this Spending Review period (2022-23 to 2024-25).
  2. The £2.5bn Home Upgrade Grant programme for private rented and owner-occupied homes should be confirmed.

The Heat and Building Strategy published this week set out allocations to these funds for the next three years. But regardless of how much is earmarked, to ensure that this investment reaches places in need of levelling-up, and avoid the uneven outcomes that can be delivered by national competitive bidding rounds, we’re urging the chancellor to target this investment on the basis of fuel poverty, allocating funding via BEIS’ local Energy Hubs. This would also inject confidence into regional supply chains, enabling them to gear up capacity and skills to meet forthcoming demand.

The clear and objective targeting mechanism we’ve set out would result in an allocation of over £2bn to the North of England, which has some of the country’s highest levels of fuel poverty. With co-investment from private and social landlords, this would result in a coordinated investment of £2.76bn in the North’s homes : levelling-up in action.

Delivering on net zero and levelling-up through enhanced local capacity

We’re calling on the Chancellor to enable our councils to deliver more and better homes by addressing the capacity constraints that hold us back. Our evidence shows that spending on housing services by councils in the North has reduced by 58% since 2010 – compared to a reduction of just over 1/3 elsewhere in England.  We argue that the Spending Review should set out a clear commitment to a real-terms increase in local government funding. We also argue that Homes England’s strategic objectives should be updated to clearly focus the Agency’s significant human and financial capacity on contributing to levelling-up and net zero.  Re-building capacity would enable councils to do even more to deliver more and better homes; and unlock their crucial local leadership in tackling the ¼ of carbon emissions across the North which come from our existing homes.

Delivering on net zero and levelling-up by making better use of brownfield land

The Chancellor should build on the success of the Brownfield Housing Fund he launched at his first budget by investing £500m in a further round of the fund.   This would enable housing in the North to tackle eyesore brownfield sites and enable the development of 30-40,000 new homes for ownership and rent, creating and protecting jobs in remediation and homebuilding.  This also delivers on net zero by enabling the construction of new energy-efficient homes on former brownfield sites, which are often centrally-located and served by existing infrastructure, reducing their environmental impact further.  Brownfield land can’t meet all the North’s diverse housing needs, but this investment would build on the success of the existing fund – building out more of the North’s 5,000 brownfield sites – changing the local housing mix and providing visible evidence of investment and confidence.

The NHC has been making the case on net zero and levelling-up through extensive engagement with MPs, Peers, ministers, officials and the media. In October alone, our analysis has featured in The Times; and NHC CEO Tracy Harrison has appeared on BBC Politics North and on Look North outlining the case for the Chancellor to invest in Green Home Upgrades. Many thanks to NHC members who have shared our representation with local MPs.  The full document is available to read online, and you can expect an on-the-day briefing with the key announcements to hit your inbox next Wednesday.

Delivering on net zero and levelling-up through green home upgrades

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On Wednesday 27th October, Rishi Sunak will deliver his long-awaited Spending Review, which we expect will set out Government plans to invest in readying our homes for net zero.

Over the last eighteen months, the Northern Housing Consortium has been making the case that a programme of green home upgrades in the North of England presents him with an opportunity to deliver on two of the Government’s top priorities: net zero and levelling-up.

Upgrading homes would not only cut carbon (the North’s homes are responsible for over ¼ of the region’s emissions) but also create thousands of jobs in areas targeted for levelling-up – we reckon there’s potential for 77,000 good green jobs undertaking home upgrades across the North by the 2030s. Investing in home upgrades would also provide evidence of Government’s determination to tackle the rising cost of energy, which is a real threat to living standards in our region.

To unlock the potential of green home upgrades, here are the three things we need the Chancellor to do on the 27th October:

 

  1. Confirm plans to invest.

The 2019 Conservative Party manifesto pledged £3.8bn to decarbonise social housing, and a further £2.5bn for Home Upgrade Grants for the private rented and owner-occupied sectors.  We need Rishi Sunak to confirm these plans. If he does so, our Spending Review Representation estimates he will unlock a further £2.1bn of contributions from landlords, creating a total investment of more than £8.4bn in energy efficiency across the country.

 

  1. Accelerate that investment

A lot has changed since the Conservative manifesto was published in 2019. Rapidly rising energy prices make the need to act more urgent; and a global pandemic has slowed progress on the Government’s important levelling-up agenda.  That’s why we think there’s a strong case to accelerate the 2019 plans – bringing them forward within this 3-year Spending Review period, rather than trickling them out over a longer period, as originally proposed.

 

  1. Target that investment.

To maximise the local impact of this investment, Government must make sure funding finds its way to places in need of levelling-up. Our Spending Review Representation sets out a clear and objective way to do this : allocating investment via BEIS’ local Energy Hubs on basis of the share of England’s fuel-poor households within each Hub area. That would result in an allocation of over £2bn to the North of England, which has some of the country’s highest levels of fuel poverty. With co-investment from private and social landlords, this would result in a coordinated investment of £2.76bn in the North’s homes: levelling-up in action.

Targeting the investment might be the third point in this list, but it’s a vitally important step. It would ensure the funding reaches the homes and places that need it, and avoid the uneven outcomes that national competitive bidding rounds can deliver.  It would send clear signals to the private sector supply chain about the scale of investment work coming forward in each region – enabling them to scale-up their capacity in anticipation of the work to come.

This Government has legislated for the most ambitious carbon reduction target in the industrialised world, and will play host to COP in November. Its pledge to level-up has even more resonance in light of the pandemic and the ongoing squeeze on living standards brought about by fast-rising energy prices. If Government want to cut carbon, control household bills, and create jobs, then a green home upgrade programme is the way to go.  On October 27th, Rishi Sunak must confirm, accelerate and target investment in green home upgrades: delivering on net zero and levelling-up.

Full Rent Accounting module launched by Locata

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Locata will be launching a full Rent Account module in November, giving officers a single integrated system for the step-by-step management for rent accounting.

The system is being built to work alongside Coventry’s new Locata Choice Based Lettings system and is expected to be live by early November.

The system integrates with our various Locata Pro housing modules, working across a common database and interfaces smoothly with Housing Management Systems and online form processors.

The new module has been eagerly anticipated by many Locata customers and is expected to be rolled out to several housing schemes before the New Year.

Features include:

  • Integration with Finance and Housing Benefit Systems
  • Global rents set up
  • Arrears handling
  • Automated rent statements
  • Loans
  • Reconciliations

The system makes extensive use of automated, staff programmable tasks and questions and workflow processing.

This approach to rent accounting ensures all reminders, alerts and targets can be delivered, with the ability to process account payments, credits and debits alongside arrears management and invoicing.

 

Proof of ID & Validation

Locata has also launched a new enhancement to its letting systems processes that allow housing officers to verify identity documents quickly and accurately.

We are working with our partner Trust ID to allow fast and accurate checks of driving licenses, identity cards, passports and visas.

 

The Proof of ID & Validation process allows officers to check the customers ID at point of offer.

This can be done by checking it as “pre-verified” or passing it to Trust ID for validation in real time to check the ID is valid.

Now that we have uploaded Proofs of ID on the journal, officers can use them in the process. When the “offer” button is clicked a pop up will display asking the officer to select the household member and type of ID.

At the offer point a message will be returned saying that the Photo ID was submitted from the journal and was either valid or not.

The officer that submits the request for the proof checks is also sent an email to indicate if the check was successful or not.

If it was valid the officer can continue with the offer. There is a “show details” button which allows a detailed report to be viewed or if “view” is clicked, an image of the ID will appear.

 

You can find out more about how the enhancement works on our Help Site, which you can view by clicking here.

Alternatively, contact Locata directly and we will be happy to tell you more about this or any of our new modules. Email info@locata.org.uk

NHC welcomes the GEM Programme to work with members

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At the NHC, we are acutely aware of the challenges and opportunities for the North of England – in particular, the opportunities presented by the Levelling Up agenda and decarbonisation of housing stock. It is essential that the North’s communities and economy can thrive, with everyone having access to good quality housing and the skills they need to take advantage of employment opportunities. We will need the next generation of housing professionals to implement the changes that will continue to improve our built environment for all, and part of that will be helping to visualise the cities of the future. We’ve seen rapid changes to our towns and cities – changes only accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic – so this is a timely opportunity for people with a future in the housing sector to learn and understand more about what lies ahead for the places they live, work and socialise.

As a result, we recently held a conference for the GEM Programme on the 20th of September surrounding how the GEMs can make 15-minute communities within our member areas of Liverpool, Greater Manchester, Sunderland, Birghouse and Castleford. The GEMs will now be working on this project in collaboration with our members from these areas and will present their recommendations on the 4th of November as part of the morning sessions of our flagship event- The Northern Housing Summit. In the meantime, we are incredibly excited to see the progress GEMs make in figuring out how to revolutionise our northern towns and cities.

Book your place at the NHC Northern Housing Summit here.

‘No place left behind’ report sets out levelling-up plan

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The Commission on Prosperity and Community Placemaking published its final report last week, setting out a plan for levelling-up at neighbourhood level. The Commission, convened by the influential Create Streets Foundation, called for investment in the physical and social fabric of left-behind places.

Chaired by Toby Lloyd, former special advisor to Prime Minister, Theresa May, and supported by NHC members Karbon Homes, Livin and RBH, the Commission called for a new Community Right to Buy giving communities the power to buy empty or derelict buildings, and for dedicated ‘improvement districts’ to reinvent town centres and residential neighbourhoods – all backed up by a £2bn Community Wealth Fund to support the most left behind places to develop their own solutions.

The Commission also called for ‘urgent action’ to kickstart the retrofit of homes in left-behind places. Noting that ‘The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, the Confederation of British Industry, the National Housing Federation and the Northern Housing Consortium, have all called on the Government to bring forward the £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund at the next Spending Review, so that it can be used to build retrofitting skills, capacity and supply chains. This will then underpin decarbonisation of the nation’s housing stock across all tenures, delivering cost savings at scale.’ The Commission recommended that the £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund is launched immediately.

Local Government capacity was also considered by the Commission. Noting NHC evidence on the disproportionate reductions in local government housing capacity in the North since 2010/11, the Commission called for Government to ‘guarantee local authorities in left behind places ten years of core revenue funding certainty’.

Commenting, NHC Executive Director for Policy and Public Affairs, Brian Robson, said:

“With the Spending Review due next month, this influential report couldn’t have launched at a better time. We’re delighted to see the Commission pick up on NHC evidence, and warmly endorse their recommendations on retrofit and local authority revenue funding.”

Paul Fiddaman, Commissioner, Chief Executive of Karbon Homes and Chair of the Northern Housing Consortium said:

“We want to see greater investment in communities that have been left behind for far too long, with residents at the heart of a new programme of regeneration designed to transform these areas into thriving neighbourhoods. The decarbonisation agenda, in particular, brings an opportunity to not only improve the quality and energy efficiency of homes in these neighbourhoods but also to bring new skills and job opportunities to people living there.”

Gareth Swarbrick, Commissioner and CEO of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing said:

“I’m delighted to have been part of the Commission and to help shape the recommendations in this report. We have seen as a mutual housing society that some of the most meaningful and lasting changes are those led by communities themselves – and there are some great examples of this within the report. That’s why we need long-term, flexible regeneration funding to support those communities understanding that what works best might be different in every neighbourhood.”

The Commission’s report can be downloaded here.

Reshuffle: Who’s in and who’s out of Boris Johnson’s housing team?

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The rumoured reshuffle came to fruition this month, with Boris Johnson looking to “unite and level up the whole country” starting with a shake-up of his top team. This has also included a rebranding of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to showcase the Government’s commitment to the levelling up mission in the department’s title.

Enter the new Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities…

Michael Gove MP has replaced Robert Jenrick MP as Secretary of State, inheriting a range of housing policy issues to address including building safety, renters’ reform, net zero homes, planning reform, and local government capacity. Gove and the new Department will also take on the new responsibility to deliver the levelling up agenda, potentially signifying a ramping-up of activity around the concept. On appointment, Gove said his team will focus on “delivering for those overlooked families and undervalued communities across the United Kingdom”.

Gove has never held the housing brief since entering the Cabinet in 2010, but he was Shadow Minister at the Department for Communities and Local Government between 2005 and 2007 and during his bid for the Conservative leadership in 2016 Gove said:

“We need a national ambition to build hundreds of thousands of new homes a year, both private and socially-rented – led by someone who will not take no for an answer and who will push for diggers in the ground and homes for all come what may.”

The NHC will be looking out for what these ambitions will mean for the North as Gove develops his approach.

Neil O’Brien MP will also be focussing on the levelling up agenda as he becomes Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. O’Brien was previously Boris Johnson’s levelling up adviser and worked on the development of the Northern Powerhouse strategy as an adviser to George Osborne. He authored a report about levelling up last year, published by think tank Onward, in which he argues for an end to the 80:20 rule and a rebalancing of Affordable Homes Programme investment.

Yorkshire-born Andy Haldane, former Bank of England chief economist, has been appointed as head of the Government’s new levelling up taskforce. He takes up the role as a six-month secondment from his position as Chief Executive of the Royal Society for Arts. Haldane has said he looks forward to helping the Government “design and deliver an economy that works for every part of the UK”. He will report jointly to Gove and Johnson.

The levelling up white paper is expected to be published this Autumn to articulate the Government’s plans.

Kemi Badenoch MP has also joined the Department as Minister of State from her previous role as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury. Badenoch also remains Minister for Equalities at the Foreign Office.

Danny Kruger MP has announced on Twitter that he has been appointed as Gove’s Parliamentary Private Secretary, this is yet to be confirmed by the Department at the time of writing. Kruger led a government-commissioned review of civil society last year as a response to the “volunteering and community spirit” seen during the first lockdown of the pandemic.

Christopher Pincher MP (Minister of State for Housing), Eddie Hughes MP (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Housing and Rough Sleeping) and Lord Greenhalgh (Minister of State) all remain in their posts in the newly named department. Luke Hall MP, previously Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government at MHCLG, has returned to the backbenches.

Over at BEIS where the responsibilities for energy efficiency, clean heat and fuel poverty lie, Kwasi Kwarteng MP remains Secretary of State, and Lord Callanan (Minister for Business, Energy and Corporate Responsibility), who attended a roundtable with some NHC members recently, also remains in post. Berwick-upon-Tweed MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan has been moved from her role at BEIS to become Secretary of State for International Trade. Greg Hands MP, previously Minister of State for Trade Policy, has taken up Trevelyan’s role at BEIS.

Another Northern MP involved in the reshuffle is Simon Clarke, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, who has been appointed as Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Clarke was previously a Minister at MHCLG before his resignation in September 2020. Clarke is also a former Vice Chair of the APPG for Housing in the North (2017-2019) of which the NHC acts as Secretariat.

The NHC will be watching the new Department closely to see how they bring together housing in the North with the levelling up agenda – we have already reached out to the new team to arrange to discuss our members’ priorities with them. We will keep you updated with our engagement.

Members can hear directly from both Kwasi Kwarteng MP and Eddie Hughes MP at the Northern Housing Summit 2021 in November.

You can see the full ministerial list across government departments here.

Northern Housing Consortium Heads to Milan (Online) for Pre-COP26 Event

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The Northern Housing Consortium will head to Milan this week, albeit virtually, to showcase the Social Housing Tenants’ Jury at All4Climate – Italy 2021.

The series of events forms part of Italy’s work in their role as joint-Presidents of COP26, the United Nations climate summit taking place in Glasgow this November. Convened by the Italian Ministry for Ecological Transition, All4Climate aims to bring together climate champions around the world to foster proactive dialogue on the challenges of the climate crisis and deliver on the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

As part of the official program of roundtables, the NHC and partners involved in the Social Housing Tenants’ Climate Jury will hold a meeting offering a first look at the project which placed tenants at the centre of answering the question “how can tenants’, landlords, and others work together to tackle climate change in our homes and neighbourhoods”.

Over the last ten weeks the Jury, a collection of 30 residents reflecting the diversity of the social housing sector, have heard from experts and discussed together a broad range of climate and retrofit issues to produce a series of recommendations to the sector. It is anticipated that these recommendations will put forward tenant views on renewable heating technology, the cost of retrofit and managing disruption, education and communication, and tackling climate change at a neighbourhood level.

Given All4Climate’s focus on young people and driving ambition, younger members of the Jury will join attendees to discuss their experience of the project. All are welcome to join the conversation and we hope the session will be of interest to both officers and residents looking to better understand how we can bring together the climate and tenant engagement agendas.

To complete the session, like-minded organisations will join those from the Jury project to discuss their work empowering young people to have their voice heard in their local areas. Increasing the agency of young people to tackle inequality, address the climate crisis, and build back better from the coronavirus pandemic.

The event is free to attend and you an register your attendance here:

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gU199FKXQlWZBUijiBHQxQ

More information on the Social Housing Tenants’ Climate Jury, including recordings of presentations given by expert commentators, can be found here:

https://www.northern-consortium.org.uk/the-social-housing-tenants-climate-jury/

All4Climate – Italy 2021 is convened by the Italian Ministry for Ecological Transition in collaboration with the World Bank Group’s Connect4Climate and with the participation of the Lombardy Region and the Municipality of Milan. All4Climate aims to foster proactive dialogue on the challenges of the climate crisis and deliver on the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

More information on All4Climate can be found here:

https://all4climate2021.org