At Hackney Council, we’re doing everything we can to deliver renewable energy and net zero locally, from our sector-leading work to rapidly expand our EV charging infrastructure, to installing solar panels on our council and community buildings, decarbonising our pension fund, our Green Homes programme and of course our ambitious plans for community energy. Not to mention our efforts ‘greening’ our environment.
Last week’s announcement from Keir Starmer and Ed Miliband, during Community Energy Fortnight, demonstrates Labour’s commitment to listen to and work jointly with Local Government in the drive towards net zero. Nationwide, Labour local authorities know that net zero is a target that must be achieved to secure the wellbeing of the planet and it must be delivered alongside social justice. The global scale can be overwhelming, but a strong and ambitious partnership between Central and Local Government is an essential tool in this fight. Most of us in Labour local government are also already more ambitious than the national 2040 target.
As we get closer to our collective goal, at a local level it means we will be able to walk, cycle or bus to work and school breathing more freely, without fear that air pollution is causing us more harm than good; it means that our neighbourhoods won’t become overheated in the summer which is not only uncomfortable, but poses risks to our own health as well as the health of our natural environment; and net zero will mean cheaper energy bills, from secure, clean and locally generated electricity, something which the cost of living crisis has proved we desperately need.
Hackney’s work with the Coop Party, London Councils, the LGA, Community Energy movement and most crucially Ed Miliband and the Shadow Climate Change and Net Zero team, demonstrates how local authorities can act as an incubator and innovator for the development of nationwide ideas to tackle the climate emergency. Labour’s recent announcement demonstrates the leadership’s commitment to supporting and facilitating local authorities to deliver change in their communities. We’ve emphasised the need for stable, long-term investment to unlock real change; Labour’s promise that GB Energy will make available up to £600m in funding for local authorities and up to £400m in low-interest loans each year for communities, directly answers this.
Labour’s Local Power Plan includes Hackney’s key asks and has directly responded to the Co-op Party’s campaign, putting communities and local authorities at the heart of their ambitions for a greener Britain, harnessing the potential that we know our communities are fizzing with. We have already started this journey in Hackney, with the Council's energy services arm, Hackney Light and Power, inspired by London's Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan, is delivering its first round of funding through its £300k community energy fund. This is empowering 14 local landmarks, including a church, gurdwara, wellness charity and seven schools, to develop their own bespoke carbon-saving projects such as solar panels, battery storage, insulation and heating controls. This is only the start for us and we are already committed to funding future rounds, but we could do so much more working with a Labour Government committed to Community Energy.
In the future, we hope to develop this work to put solar panels on roofs of housing estates, as we’re already doing with other council assets. We’re also exploring district heat networks - the Council already operates the Shoreditch Heat Network which serves the Wenlock Barn, Cranston and Fairbank estates, and is investigating the feasibility for two new areas: Woodberry Down and Colville.
As we know, the devil is in the detail and this latest announcement from the national party adds necessary detail to Labour’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. It is brilliant to see that Ed and Keir have taken this opportunity to take another step forward in their devolution agenda and we in Hackney welcome it with open arms. Now we must ensure that regulatory barriers which currently cap progress on community energy, such as those highlighted by Power for People’s Local Electricity Bill as well as the subsidy control rules which are a growing concern in Hackney, are eradicated so we can truly unleash our potential for sustainable and affordable power.
Following this year's Community Energy Fortnight let's celebrate what's been achieved, and the pioneering potential 'energy' (pun intended) unleashed by Labour in this bold green, co-operative community vision for our future for how we deliver low carbon, low cost energy owned and powered by the people.
