Leeds City Council ECO4 Flexible Eligibility Statement of Intent.
- Local Authority name: Leeds City Council
- Publication Date: 16/05/2024
- Version number: V.2
- Publication on web site:
www.leeds.gov.uk
This statement sets out Leeds City Council's flexible eligibility criteria for the Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) scheme from April 2022 – March 2026.
Currently Leeds City Council's ECO4 flex scheme is only available for schemes managed by Leeds City Council, a list of which can be found below. This means that at present leaseholders and private rented sector households will need to access the funding through one of these schemes if they are eligible for them.
At present ECO4 flex schemes managed by Leeds City Council are:
- Lincoln Green, District Heating scheme in Burmantofts.
- Clustering for Warmth Project, Clusters 1 to 7.
Our partners Cenergist will be in touch with those eligible leaseholders and social tenants.
Please note that applications will be handled through our scheme contractors Cenergist.
The ECO4 scheme will focus on supporting low income and vulnerable households. The scheme will improve the least energy efficient homes helping to meet the Government's fuel poverty and net zero commitments.
The flexible approach for Local Authorities (LAs) to identifying fuel poor and vulnerable households who may benefit from heating and energy saving measures is referred to as "ECO4 Flex".
The council welcomes the introduction of the ECO4 Flex eligibility routes as it helps the council achieve its plans to improve the homes of those in fuel poverty or vulnerable to the cold.
The council is publishing this Statement of Intent (SoI), on the 16/05/2024 to confirm that each of the households declared will adhere to at least one of the 4 available routes outlined below:
Route 1: SAP bands D-G for leaseholders and private rented sector E-G households with an income less than £31,000. This cap applies irrespective of the property size, composition, or region.
Route 2: SAP bands E-G for leaseholders and private rented sector households that meet a combination of two of the following proxies:
Proxy 1
Proxy 2
Householders receiving a Council Tax reduction (based on low income only).
Proxy 3
Householders vulnerable to living in a cold home as identified in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guidance. Only one from the list can be used, excludes the proxy 'low income'.
Proxy 4
A householder receiving free school meals due to low-income.
Proxy 5
A householder supported by a LA run scheme, that has been named and described by the LA as supporting low income and vulnerable households for the purposes of NICE Guideline.
Proxy 6
A household referred to the LA for support by their energy supplier or Citizen's Advice or Citizen's Advice Scotland, because they have been identified as struggling to pay their electricity and gas bills.
* Note proxies 1 and 3 cannot be used together.
Route 3: SAP bands D-G for leaseholders and private rented sector E-G households that have been identified by either a person registered in the General Practitioner Register, a Scottish Health Board, a Welsh Health Board, an NHS Foundation Trust, or an NHS Trust as vulnerable, with an occupant whose health conditions may be impacted further by living in a cold home. These health conditions may be cardiovascular, respiratory, immunosuppressed, or limited mobility related.
Route 4: SAP band D-G leaseholders and private rented sector E-G households that are referred under Route 4: Bespoke Targeting. Suppliers and LAs can submit an application to ESNZ where they have identified a low income and vulnerable household, who are not already eligible under the exiting routes.
Declaration and evidence check confirmation
All potentially eligible households should apply through the relevant council scheme which is listed on our Statement of Intent webpage.
The officer below will be responsible for checking and verifying declarations and associated evidence submitted on behalf of the local authority:
Name: Sajda Khaliq
Job title: Project Support Officer
Phone: 0113 336 8812
Email:Fuelsavers@Leeds.gov.uk
CEO or dedicated responsible person mandatory signature
Leeds City Council will administer the scheme according to the Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) Order 2022 (ECO4 Order) and will identify eligible households via Ofgem's application process. The CEO of the Council will oversee the process of identifying eligible households under ECO Flex.
The eligibility information will be stored securely in line with the council's data protection policy, Information Commissioner's Office Data Sharing Code, and ESNZ guidance.
Name: Polly Cook
Job Title: Chief Officer Climate Energy and Green Spaces (dedicated responsible person)
Date of signature: 16/05/2024
For any general enquires relating to this SoI, please contact
fuelsavers@leeds.gov.uk.
Leeds City Council will only keep householders' information for the minimum period necessary electronically with controlled access. After this time, information is deleted/destroyed in accordance with council policy.
The council will ensure that the information collected and stored:
- as little as we need to do the job
- accurate and up to date
- only used for the purpose intended
- only kept as long as we have to
