LORELY BURT MP BACKS PLANS TO CUT HARMFUL EMISSIONS FROM HOMES

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 17th Apr 2007

Solihull's MP, Lorely Burt is supporting radical new proposals that would make local homes more environmentally-friendly and cut fuel bills.

The Liberal Democrat Climate Change Starts At Home plans would:

· Make home insulation more affordable for local people;

· Reduce fuel bills, lifting pensioners and others on low incomes out of fuel poverty;

· More than halve the amount of polluting carbon emissions produced by homes in Solihull.

They would do this by:

· Setting tough new GreenHouse standards for new homes which would cut fuel bills and soon pay for themselves;

· Creating a system of 'energy mortgages', so the cost of energy efficiency measures can be repaid over the long-term, using the money saved from lower energy bills;

· Placing new incentives on energy companies, so they maximise their profits by helping their customers become more energy efficient.

Lorely Burt MP said:

"Improving the energy efficiency of our homes is crucial to combating climate change, as it is responsible for over a quarter of all of our carbon emissions.

"In 2004, the latest year for which we have figures, homes here in Solihull Borough produced 567,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide1. That's 2.8 tonnes per person.

"The package of proposals we are putting forward would reduce carbon emissions from existing homes by more than 60 per cent, and from newly built houses by 95 per cent, by 2050. That is more carbon than is produced annually by all the cars on Britain's roads.

"Locally it would mean 402.6 fewer tonnes of polluting carbon dioxide from homes across Solihull Borough every year."

Lorely Burt MP explained how the proposals would work:

"Millions of people struggle to pay their fuel bills each winter, yet are unable to afford improvements on their homes to make them more energy efficient. Creating a national scheme of 'energy mortgages' will allow people to use the money saved from having an energy efficient home to invest in the necessary improvements."

"People are paying high fuel bills because their homes too easily lose energy. Currently, British homes waste an average of £385 a year in energy compared to Sweden. Our proposals will help people save the environment and cut bills."