Green Party promises home insulation programme to cut energy bills

Greens say local councils should adopt ‘Lewes model’ to bring down bills

Joint Green Party leaders Adrian Ramsay and Carla Denyer launch their Local Election campaign in Lambeth on 5 April (Getty Images)

The Green Party has put its plans to insulate homes at the centre of its local election campaign, touting the policy as a response to the cost of living crisis.

Co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay on Tuesday said Greens in local government had been leading on insulation and that their approach would keep people warm and cut bills.

The party points to the work of Green-led Lewes District Council, which is working with six other local authorities to retrofit 40,000 council homes and cut energy bills.

Those councils have pooled their housing maintenance accounts today in order to give them more "financial firepower", the party says.

And Greens on Stroud District Council have also set out plans to invest £180 million to retrofit, insulate and decarbonise its 5,000-strong housing stock.

“In the middle of this cost of living crisis, we know what needs to be done and yet the government is falling so chronically short," said Ms Denyer at the party's local election campaign launch in Lambeth.

“On top of that, Labour and Conservative-run councils up and down the country are not listening to what residents want."

She added: “Greens have another plan. Not to discard these homes, but to upgrade them. Insulation programmes don’t sound very glamorous but what they can deliver is nothing short of incredible.

“Imagine - a warm, snug home even on the coldest days. Little to no heating bill at all. A neighbourhood that has almost zero emissions."

Mr Ramsay said the Green Party was "all about, fairness and community, sensible, practical solutions and protecting the places we live and the people we care about".

The Greens are hoping to make gains at the forthcoming local elections, which are set to be held on 5 May 2022.

The Green Party of England and Wales has one MP, Caroline Lucas, and two peers in the House of Lords.

But ithas a small but growing presence in local government, with 461 out of England and Wales' 18,000 councillors affiliated with the party. It also holds three of the 25 seats in the London Assembly.

The Scottish Greens, a separate party, have seven seats in the 129 member Scottish Parliament, holding the balance of power and supporting the SNP-led government. The party has 16 of Scotland's roughly 1,200 councillors.