Press Release: Get ready for winter!

I issued the following press release on 4 August 2006:

“WARM UP NOW AND BE READY FOR WINTER” SAYS LYNNE JONES MP

“Warm Front grants are proving popular in my constituency” says Lynne Jones, MP for Selly Oak.  “These grants have already helped 2179 households become warmer and more energy efficient since June 2000 – and there are many more who can still apply.”

Lynne Jones MP was commenting on the latest annual figures provided by Warm Front manager, Eaga Partnership detailing the amount of grant funded heating and insulation work carried out in Selly Oak constituency.

Since June 2000, £1,718,132.57 of Warm Front funding has been spent in Birmingham, Selly Oak helping local residents keep healthy, save energy, cut the cost of their fuel bills and keep their homes warm throughout the year.

Eaga Partnership has reported that 336 households in Selly Oak constituency have benefited from a brand new central heating system and a further 344 have received repairs to broken or condemned boilers.  An additional 1703 households will make savings from having had their home insulated.  A recent Energy Saving Trust Health Impact Evaluation of Warm Front highlighted that the improvements made to energy efficiency will reduce excess winter deaths in the UK

In terms of vulnerable groups of people who have been helped by Warm Front grants, Eaga has reported that 194 households with children under the age of four, 386 households on DLA, and 1366 households over the age of 60 in Lynne Jones’ constituency have benefited from improvements to their homes.

To qualify, householders need to own their own home or rent from a private landlord, and they also need to be in receipt of an income or disability related benefit.  Lynne Jones urged constituents who think they may qualify to contact the Warm Front team on 0800 316 6014 to apply for a grant.  Other constituents who want to save energy and help combat climate change can get help and advice (including about grants) from the Energy Savings Trust website www.est.org.uk or phone 0800 915 7722.

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Notes to editors

The Eaga Group is a family of companies that provide services, products and solutions that address social, environmental and energy efficiency objectives.

Working in partnership with central and local government Eaga is positioned at the heart of policy-making and front-end delivery of social and environmental improvement programmes. Eaga operates across the UK and in the Republic of Ireland, India and Canada employing over 2,000 people.

Eaga Partnership, the anchor and parent company of the Eaga Group, was established in Newcastle in 1990 to lead government funded efforts to improve the living conditions of vulnerable people living in cold, damp and energy inefficient homes across England. Since it's inception, Eaga has made a positive difference to over 5 million disadvantaged households across the UK, by installing energy efficiency measures and central heating.

Eaga Partnership Ltd holds the contract to deliver the £1.5 billion Warm Front programme in England, which aims to eliminate fuel poverty by installing energy efficiency measures in vulnerable homes by 2010. The group also works with devolved nation governments to deliver similar schemes across the UK.

As a co-owned business, Eaga Group is one of only a handful of UK organisations where every employee with over a year’s service is entitled to a share in the success of the business. Eaga’s commitment to co-ownership is an integral part of the values that define the ethos of the business and what it means to be an Eaga Group employee.

Eaga Group’s Government Contracts Division currently employs more than 400 people located at offices in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It manages the Group’s core government contracts, which relate to grant-funded programmes for tackling fuel poverty.

Eaga Group’s Heating Division currently employs more than 300 employees and operates from five office locations across the UK. It installs energy efficient central heating systems, powered by renewable and conventional energy sources.

Anyone wishing to apply for a grant should ring freephone 0800 316 6014