Fuel For Thought 24 Recap
by Amal Pouzoulet
The government’s attempt to fund home improvements through our energy bills has scandalously failed. Thousands are now living in worse conditions, while profiteering private companies have pocketed millions of taxpayers money, sacked their workers and closed shop. Leaving overwhelmed residents to fight for their homes, alone.
Cost-of-living, job insecurity, conflicts, and climate change all link back to our reliance on fossil fuels. And upgrading existing homes with properly installed insulation and low energy heating technologies, is still the best way to lower energy consumption and bills.
In this panel and discussion, we delved into the failure of government retrofitting, and how to overturn it.
We first heard from Susan Challenger, a homeowner based in North Wales. Susan shared her heart-wrenching experience of catastrophic ECO4 insulation failure. Shoddy work led to dry rot spreading throughout Susan’s house, starting a years-long nightmare of living in an unrecognisable construction site she once called home.
After 3 years of fighting for remediation navigating opaque and unaccountable oversight bodies, remediation work has finally started. But nothing will get Susan back the time, money, and psychological strain of having her home ravaged by a botched retrofit job.
Be sure to listen to Susan’s insightful reform demands for retrofit going forwards, as informed by her gruelling experience.
I was constantly ignored, sent back and forth to different groups, but no single organisation took ownership.
Susan Challenger, ECO4 victim.
Next up, we heard from Ellen Robottom, Unite Community and CACC Steering Group member who set out the urgency of the climate context in which we find ourselves, for the working class.
Linking climate change and housing, Ellen made a strong case for Trade Unions and workers acting on housing issues and retrofit; elaborating on how climate change will impact working classes the hardest through their conditions at home and in their workplaces.
Ellen reiterated the inadequacy of current government programmes to deliver at the scale that’s needed, and reinforcing the need to organise around housing: to slow the pace of climate change, and shelter ourselves from its impacts.
Climate change is the biggest threat facing the working class.
Ellen Robottom, Unite Community, CACC Steering Group.
Following on, we heard from Emeritus Professor Linda Clarke. Building on the previous contributions, Linda Identified barriers facing the construction sector, and how to overcome them. Linda elaborated on the model of Direct Labour Organisations (DLO’s), whereby a workforce is directly employed by a council or housing provider.
Building on historical and current examples of successful DLO’s in Glasgow and London, Linda presented them as a feasible pathway to overcoming construction barriers including secure employment with good conditions, adequate training, employing excluded groups, and quality control.
As such, DLO’s could constitute a model through which home improvements could be delivered to tackle climate change, shield ourselves from its impacts, and around which labour organising could rally.
I’m a great believer in the significance of Direct Labour Organisations for carrying out cost-effective large-scale retrofitting of council properties in order to tackle fuel poverty and reduce energy consumption, and carbon emissions.
Emeritus professor at Westminster Business School and a researcher at the Centre for the Study of the Production of the Built Environment (ProBE)
Last but not least, we heard from Glyn Oliver, the Branch secretary of Unite Community, Southampton Area, and Coordinator of Unite Community National Housing Action Group.
Glyn told us about the work Unite Community is doing on the subject of housing. Including a push to establish alliance of all Unite housing-associated members and groups across sectors and the recent win of securing commitment for dedicated housing campaign unit within Unite Union (the largest in the UK).
As well as the importance of working alongside organisation such as Fuel Poverty Action, Homes for All, Social Housing Action Campaign, Labour Campaign for Council Housing, and homeless charities to make change happen.
Catch-up on the session
Resources
Take action:
- Sign Fuel Poverty Action’s petition calling for this government to Make Green Fair and reduce energy bill now.
- Join us to hand in our 10,000 strong #MakeGreenFair petition, and for a demonstration, at a critical moment to fight criminal energy pricing.
- Join the Retrofit Right Campaign to see homes fixed properly and future retrofit schemes done safely.
- Sign the petition to bring in new laws and deliver justice for victims of the cavity wall insulation scandal
Speaker presentations:
- Susan Challenger (ECO4 victim) | Seeking answers, accountability and meaningful action and change.
- Ellen Robottom (Unite Community and CACC( | Retrofit, climate, and jobs.
- Prof Linda Clarke (Emeritus Professor, University of Westminster) | Making retrofit work
Further Reading:
- Four arrested over suspected home insulation scheme fraud – BBC News
- MPs ask Serious Fraud Office to investigate UK home insulation sector | Energy efficiency | The Guardian
- Warm Homes Plan: Burnley and Pendle households with failed retrofits being left behind, campaigners fear
- SSB Law Victims Support Group: Burnley residents living in ‘never-ending hell’ of debt, damp, and mould due to botched cavity wall insulation
- Oil giants accused of making more than £26billion worth of ‘war profits’ – The Mirror
- The Retrofit Pattern Book
- Retrofit Right Campaign
Find hope in:
Connect:
Reach out to me on amalric(at)fuelpovertyaction(dot)org(dot)uk if you’d like to get connected:
- With Glyn Oliver to join the Unite Community National Housing Action group.
- With Debra from the SSB Law Victims Support Group and Retrofit Right Campaign on retrofit accountability, guarantees, public delivery models, workforce involvement and proper remedy for affected households.
- With Charlie from Red Coop.
