Organisations that help households save energy, support those experiencing fuel poverty and reduce carbon emissions have been handed £4.3m in funding by rule breaking energy companies.

The money has been handed out to 22 schemes through the Energy Redress Scheme, which is managed by the Energy Saving Trust to distribute voluntary payments made by companies that have breached rules set by the regulator Ofgem.

This is the sixth funding round through the scheme and includes a £296,000 award for Northern Hull Community Development for its Hull Energy Action Team (HEAT) project. This provides information, advice and support to vulnerable households experiencing fuel poverty.

“With over 43% of households in our community living in fuel poverty, the funding will provide us with a dedicated team of energy advisors that will enable us to support vulnerable households across the city by delivering energy awareness workshops and assessing energy efficiency within individual homes, said Northern Hull Community Development trustee Jayne Brindley.

“Putting in place measures to make homes more energy efficient will directly benefit residents of Hull by reducing their energy bills and making their homes more comfortable”.

Another recipient is London based Housing Association Charitable Trust (HACT), which has been awarded funding to develop its Retrofit Credits service, which verifies carbon emission reductions and social value of retrofit projects.

Also receiving funding is Manchester based Retrofit for All: People Centred Retrofit project “that will develop solutions to the challenges housing providers face in centring householders' needs and priorities in the delivery of public retrofit programmes”, said the Energy Saving Trust.

The Scheme’s senior project manager Graham Ayling said: “We’re pleased to announce £4.3 million of new funding to help organisations at the heart of their communities reach and support vulnerable people to stay warm in their homes.

“It will also fund innovative projects that aim to improve household energy efficiency and empower people to play a part in and benefit from the transition to net zero.”

Since the Energy Redress Scheme launched in 2018 it has awarded more than £103m to more than 538 projects.

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