The 'ECO' project

Stockton-on-Tees Energy Company Obligation funded insulation programme aimed to alleviate fuel poverty by providing warmer homes, and thereby improving the health of occupants.  The scheme had provided external wall cladding to over 6,500 households across the Stockton Borough since 2007.    

AskFuse was approached by Stockton Borough Council (SBC) requesting help to evaluate the cost effectiveness of the insulation programme.  SBC wanted to evaluate the impact of the scheme by making a methodologically valid link between the ECO programme, and the effect on health improvement and reduction in fuel poverty.  This was in response to potential withdrawal of national public funding for energy efficient schemes, and the need for a cost effective alternative.  The evaluation results would be used to develop a business case for the continuation of the scheme.   

AskFuse supported this enquiry by publicising the enquiry amongst Fuse researchers.  AskFuse facilitated negotiations between the Council and Fuse health economic researchers from Newcastle University to plan the evaluation.

This evaluation, supported by AskFuse, resulted in:

• Collaboration between a wide range of stakeholders such as Fuse health economists, SBC representatives from Public Health, Transport, and Environmental Management, representatives from energy provider NEON, as well as local residents.
• Creating additional data on service usage for health and social care; household composition; income spent on fuel; and health using the validated EQ-5D tool was added to a routine questionnaire
• Involving 2,048 local residents in areas of high fuel poverty in a postal survey
• Integrating existing national and local quantitative data with new qualitative data.   

Recommendations regarding the evaluation on health impact, and the continuation of the scheme by the Council, were reported to the Council in April 2017.

For more information, please contact:
AskFuse manager: Peter van der Graaf
Phone: 01642 342757
Email: p.van.der.Graaf@tees.ac.uk

Last modified: Wed, 24 Mar 2021 10:38:06 GMT