Steve Crabb, director of consumer vulnerability at British Gas takes a look at the legacy of the Community Action Partnership (CAP), an innovative scheme to help tackle fuel poverty, and what it means for housing professionals who want to continue making a difference.
What is CAP?
CAP launched in 2014 as the first nationwide grassroots initiative to support people struggling to heat their homes, and to provide specialist training to front line workers, enabling them to help people save energy and keep their homes warm.
The two-year project, led by British Gas and National Energy Action (NEA), centred on eight locations across England and Wales, providing support where it was most needed. It involved 29 local authorities and many other organisations such as NHS Trusts, and Fire and Rescue Services.
After 24 months of working with organisations and communities to educate residents about energy efficiency, the initiative has come to a close, yet its legacy will have a lasting impact thanks to the behavioural changes it has achieved among organisations and households across the country.
Working with housing professionals
CAP trained the frontline staff of housing associations and local authorities to become ‘Community Energy Agents’. Trained agents were tasked with educating fellow housing professionals, and people that work with residents on a daily basis, on the benefits of energy efficiency and how to effectively share their message with those they support.
Awareness training sessions were also delivered to letting agents and private landlords to help them become more competent in recognising when a household could be facing fuel poverty. CAP also provided them with simple practical advice they could share with residents.
Working with the community
In addition to training front line staff, CAP hosted local awareness building events for communities. In Barking and Dagenham, for example, a community group was established in the local Sikh temple, where free energy training was provided. In Liverpool, local residents were invited to play ‘energy efficiency bingo’ with the Lord Mayor.
A key focus for CAP was to develop action plans that aligned with its local authority partners’ sustainability programmes, working to bring together several agencies to raise the profile of fuel poverty. In Merseyside, CAP supported the Merseyside Fuel Poverty Conference where the Lord Mayor signed a commitment, along with other MPs, to support local housing authorities and other organisations who work to tackle fuel poverty. Through this sort of initiative CAP has been ensured that fuel poverty has stayed firmly on the agenda of councils and organisations.
The results
In total, more than 1,600 frontline staff have been trained over the past two years through CAP. Each person trained is expected to go on to engage with an average of 15 new households per month, giving the programme a lasting legacy.
Through the training, there has also been a significant upskilling of front line housing staff. Our post-programme impact assessment found that awareness of fuel poverty, its causes and consequences, increased from 46 per cent to 85 per cent among housing professionals. Similarly, those who said they were able to identify vulnerable households at risk of fuel poverty had risen from 52 per cent to 86 per cent.
Working together to deliver change
It became clear during the programme that for CAP to have a lasting influence, it had to change the attitudes many have towards fuel poverty. Housing professionals on the front line are in a position to effectively influence awareness, and can continue to use the partnerships that CAP has established throughout communities.
By bringing together professionals from different organisations, CAP was able to provide holistic support to vulnerable households, acknowledging the connection between housing, health and social care. Offering joined up advice and practical support to those in need by showing households how to use energy more efficiently has proven to be the best way to tackle the issue.
Indeed, unprecedented support from senior-level professionals gave the scheme tremendous momentum throughout its two-year lifespan, and we hope that this will continue, as it will be crucial for maintaining existing partnerships.
What next?
CAP’s success so far is good – but we need to keep it going. As part of CAP’s legacy, British Gas and the NEA have launched a new online hub. The hub offers advice and free downloadable starter kits to help organisations across the country develop and deliver their own community activities to help combat fuel poverty.
CAP has the potential to materially improve the lives of thousands of people. Housing professionals, councils, community organisations and businesses should all build on the achievements of CAP and continue to play a key role in alleviating fuel poverty across the UK.
For more information on CAP and to access the portal visit: www.nea.org.uk/see-us-in-action/community-action-partnership