Insulation freebie wins Kirklees praise Local authority cuts annual carbon emissions by 28,000 tonnes by offering residents free home insulation package Promise a Yorkshireman something for nothing and he will immediately ask for the catch.

This innate caution was the challenge facing a council that decided to offer all its residents free cavity-wall and loft insulation, with a £40 carbon monoxide detector and energy saving light bulbs thrown in.

When householders in Huddersfield-based Kirklees realised that the scheme was not going to be means-tested, they decided to fill their boots. The £20 million, three-year Kirklees Warm Zone initiative grew into the UK’s largest council-run home insulation programme, hailed as a trailblazing example to authorities across the country.

Since the initiative’s birth in 2007, insulation work has been carried out in 32,000 private homes, producing an average household reduction of £200 on annual fuel bills, a total yearly saving of £6.5 million. The scheme has also helped Kirklees to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 28,000 tonnes per year. More than 100 jobs have been created.

Pauline Pedley, 72, a retired teacher from the village of Mirfield, first heard of Warm Zone when a leaflet dropped through her door last year. She admits to having been “shocked that it was free”. “Somebody came round and did a survey of the house,” she said. “Within a couple of weeks they had come round and done the cavity wall and the loft in less than a day. It was a very quick and clean process. the workmen cleaned up after themselves beautifully and it’s made such a difference. With the insulation and my double-glazing, I rarely have to have the heating on.”Mrs Pedley felt the scheme was “particularly good for pensioners like me who couldn’t afford it otherwise”.

John Rowden, 65, a retired sales manager living with his wife, Pat, 63, in a detached four-bedroomed house in Batley, now boasts loft insulation “ten inches thick”.

“You can feel such a big difference. Physically, you could tell it was working because it was noticeably hotter in the summer and obviously better in winter.

“It took a matter of hours and you couldn’t fault the work.” Mr Rowden, who credits Warm Zone with “helping me realise the importance of energy efficiency in my own life”, has also become a convert to energy saving light bulbs.

“This isn’t just about saving money but about the future of the planet, what we are going to leave for our grandchildren. The scheme should be run nationwide.”

Warm Zone has enjoyed cross-party support on The council has committed £9 million towards the project with a further £11 million coming from ScottishPower’s budget for carbon emission reduction.

Mehboob Khan, Labour leader of a council that is under no overall control, said Kirklees was determined to become a low-carbon borough and was proud to have set a standard for sustainable energy.nationwide.

“Our residents couln’t believe the council was going to give them free insulation,” he said. “They thought it must be a con trick, but 105,000 homes have now signed up to the scheme.

“We’re tackling fuel poverty and reducing carbon emissions. For every £1 we spend, local people save £4 on their fuel bills. There’s no reason why other councils can’t run similar schemes.

“There are far more affluent councils than Kirklees, some of them sitting on capital reserves running into hundreds of millions of pounds. Where there’s a will, there’s always a way.”

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