Members of local environmental campaign group New Forest Friends of the Earth (NFFoE), along with other local groups around the country, took part in a national Friends of the Earth (FoE) event at Westminster on Tuesday 4 February, demanding warm homes for all in the New Forest area and across the country. The Government has pledged to announce a Warm Homes Plan this spring and FoE is strongly requesting a robust plan that includes:
A nationwide insulation programme to insulate our heat-leaking homes;
Prioritisation of those most in need of insulation through street-by-street insulation in the energy crisis hotspots¹, of which there are 16 in the New Forest area;
Increase funding to £6 billion a year on average to fund the Plan properly. Failing that, identifying what other policy levers and legislation can be used to ensure all cold homes are insulated by 2035.
The gathering in Parliament Square involved members from across Friends of the Earth’s network of local groups. It saw campaigners coming together to lay handmade scarves in the shape of the figure ‘55%’ – the percentage of all homes in England and Wales deemed cold, damp, and unfit for good health and comfort. The striking visual was created to draw attention to the dire state of poorly insulated housing stock in England and Wales, and the fact that more than half of households continue to be at risk of going cold in winter, particularly while energy bills remain extortionately high. In the two constituencies of the New Forest, there is an estimated total of 50,000 homes that are not energy efficient, including 18,000 that lack adequate loft and cavity wall insulation.
New Forest Friends of the Earth’s contribution to the display was eleven scarves that had been painstakingly made by the group and other local community groups such as St Marks Pennington crafters, and schools such as Milford Pre-School Plus and Walhampton Prep. Other contributions came from repair cafés and energy events in Lymington, Pennington, New Milton and Hythe. The scarves were emblazoned with heart-felt messages about the energy crisis, and the solutions that are needed locally to end the unacceptable number of cold homes in the New Forest.
Both New Forest MPs, Sir Desmond Swayne and Sir Julian Lewis, were the first to visit the display in Parliament Square. Both MPs have been very supportive of the FoE United for Warm Homes campaign over the last 15 months, and both recognise the scale of the challenge.
Sir Desmond praised the quality of the New Forest community’s handiwork in making the scarves and hoped to be able to pressure the Government into producing a robust plan. He asked for his chosen scarf to be posted to his constituency office after the event. Sir Julian was very sympathetic to the group’s demands and fully understood the scale of the problems existing for some of his constituents. As well as taking a selected scarf (from Walhampton School) to hang up in his Westminster office, he went straight back to participate in the Energy debate in the Commons and name checked NFFoE, asking Energy Minister Mia Fahnbulleh if she will "acknowledge the amazing contributions" of the group. The group is very grateful for this timely support².
The group hopes that having the MPs’ weight behind their campaign will help to bolster calls for a credible national plan to ensure no-one endures another winter of hardship. The group is particularly keen to help those in cold, damp homes, and in energy poverty by providing support and advice, and by offering free energy surveys as part of the New Forest Heat Project.
What New Forest Friends of the Earth says:
“It’s been nearly three years since energy prices first sky-rocketed, but far from having returned to 2021 levels, bills are still eye-wateringly high for too many. We simply can’t afford to accept this as the new normal when people are feeling the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis in every area of their lives. The good news is that we have the solutions that can tackle the unacceptable number cold homes for good, alongside curbing the harmful planet-warming emissions they produce. We need the government to go much further and faster on what it’s already pledged towards rolling out a national programme of insulation. We ask that those who need it most are targeted first for support. We are hoping that the display at Westminster will help us secure a national Warm Homes Plan that is robust and meaningful. We are grateful for the support from Sir Julian and Sir Desmond and hope it will help us to achieve this goal.”
Notes to editors:
¹ Energy crisis hotspot is defined as a neighbourhood where below-average incomes meet high fuel bills.
² Julian Lewis MP namechecked New Forest Friends of the Earth in the Commons today and asked Energy Minister Mia Fahnbulleh if she will "acknowledge the amazing contributions" of the group and others in its network for lobbying MPs on warm homes initiatives, including this morning in Parliament Square. He says "they will be coming to government with some possibly costly proposals" but says that he hopes the government will give them a sympathetic hearing despite the economic legacy they've "allegedly" inherited. Ref: Hansard HC Deb. (4 February 2025). vol. 761, col. 660. Available at: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2025-02-04/debates/8A52DF06-819D-4AF8-BA81-CEC9F5512D46/WarmHomesPlan (Accessed: 11 February 2025)
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