ADD2678 Retrofit Coordinator funding

1.1.    The Mayor of London has set an ambitious goal for the city to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. To analyse the pathways to achieve this target, Element Energy produced a report, published in January 2022, which outlined four possible strategies. The report emphasised the need for significant building retrofits, a transition to clean heating technologies, and a reduction in fossil fuel vehicle usage.

1.2.    The Mayor's preferred pathway, the Accelerated Green pathway, requires close collaboration among key institutions in London. It aims to reduce total heat demand by nearly 40 per cent by retrofitting over 200,000 homes annually. Quality standards are essential to ensure carbon savings and building standards are met in the domestic retrofit market.

1.3.    Meeting the net-zero target will necessitate the growth of the decarbonisation supply chain, creating job opportunities. The Element Energy report highlights the need for approximately 900 Retrofit Coordinators (RCs) in London by the mid-2020s. According to a Home Retrofit Pathways Report, these roles are crucial for ensuring the successful implementation of retrofits in accordance with PAS2035, a UK Government-sponsored standard.

1.4.    The shortage of RC’sis slowing progress toward net-zero goals. To address this, it is proposed that the Mayor fund the training of up to 50 RC’s in key roles and to enhance workforce diversity.  

1.5.    This training will align with the shared workplan with London Councils, aiming to increase technical expertise and skills. It will upskill those in critical roles with responsibility for large property portfolios and improve organisational knowledge, ultimately leading to better procurement and programme delivery.

1.6.    The upskilling of key individuals will improve both the quality and quantity of retrofitted carbon reduction measures to the domestic housing stock across large scale property portfolios across London. Each of those trained will be in the position to utilise a greater understanding of selection, design and scheduling of these carbon reduction measures. Eash person trained has the potential to make significant impact to reduce carbon in each organisation’s portfolio of domestic housing stock.

1.7.    The proposed funding of £50,000 will include London Councils' administrative costs of £10,000 for developing the programme, promotion and supporting delivery. 

1.8.    The project will be delivered in a short timeframe in order to leverage additional funding from the Home Decarbonisation Skills Training Competition secured by the Retrofit Academy. The DESNZ Home Decarbonisation Skills Training Competition funding covers between £1,000 and £1,250 per learner, depending on the size of the employer. 

1.9.    Retrofit Academy have agreed a concessionary cost based on the support being offered by London Councils below the standard rate. The Mayor’s funding will be used to meet the funding gap with £800 per learner and make the training a zero cost offer to beneficiaries, up to £40,000 in total.

1.10.    In summary, this programme aims to address the shortage of Retrofit Coordinators, support the Mayor’s net-zero target, and improve the retrofit process in London.

2.1.    The objectives of this programme are to:
•    increase understanding of the role of  RC’s, and the purpose and function of PAS2035;
•    increase the number of  RC’s available in London
•    significantly improve the capabilities of boroughs and social housing providers in taking bold steps towards Net Zero in their respective housing portfolios  
•    help build a more diverse decarbonisation supply chain in London
•    support delivery of London Councils’ Retrofit London Housing Action Plan, which aligns with the shared GLA and London Councils’ work plan
2.2.    The expected outputs are:  

•    up to 50 newly trained retrofit coordinators across London; 
•    all 33 local authorities engaged, and information on PAS2035 and the purposes, benefits and role of  RC’s disseminated to social housing providers and other large-scale landlords 
•    increased diversity of  RC’s relative to the current baseline; detailed in para 3.5. 
 

3.    Equality comments
3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the GLA is subject to the public sector equality duty and must have due regard to the need to: 
•    eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation;
•    advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not;
•    foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do. 
Protected characteristics under section 4 of the Equality Act are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sex orientation, and marriage or civil partnership status (all except the last being “relevant” protected characteristics). This is the public sector equality duty. 
3.2.    Compliance may involve, in particular, removing or minimising any disadvantage suffered by those who share a relevant protected characteristic, taking steps to meet the needs of such people and encouraging them to participate in public life or in any other activity where their participation is disproportionately low, including tackling prejudice and promoting understanding. In limited circumstances this may involve treating people with a protected characteristic more favourably than those without the characteristic.
3.3.    The GLA will take appropriate steps to identify and mitigate potential negative impacts on those with protected characteristics in relation to the development, design, targeting, marketing and delivery of the scheme. This will be done by ensuring compliance with the Mayor’s EDI strategy and developing and testing in line with GLA guidance on EDI. 
3.4.    Those with protected characteristics will gain from the positive benefits of this scheme in equal measure, should they be eligible. There will be equality of access to participate in the training and benefit from the scheme, without discrimination. 
3.5.    Data provided by the Retrofit Academy shows that the current demographic split of  RC’s do not reflect London’s diversity: 80 per cent are male and 84 per cent are White. The age distribution is also not spread across different age groups: only 26 per cent are aged under 35. A specific focus of the funding will therefore be on increasing the diversity of people taking up the training and we will ask London Councils to prioritise this in their promotion of the opportunity.
 

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities 

4.1.    Relevant London Environment Strategy policy proposals: 
•    Proposal 10.1.2.a: To support start-ups and business growth across the economy, including in the low carbon and environmental goods and services sector
•    Proposal 6.1.2.a: The Mayor will work with partners to help alleviate fuel poverty in London through implementing the recommendations of the Fuel Poverty Action Plan
•    Proposal 6.1.1b: Pilot innovative methods to implement the stronger energy-efficiency retrofitting needed
•    Proposal 6.1.1a: Contribute to helping Londoners improve the energy-efficiency of their homes, where appropriate, by providing technical assistance, support, and funding. 
4.2.    Relevant Fuel Poverty Action Plan actions are:
•    Support the rolling-out of existing local authority and community advice and referral networks, as a way of helping to improve the living conditions of fuel-poor households
•    The relevant Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Strategy objectives are Objective 4 – to lower the city’s carbon emissions – and Objective 6 – addressing financial hardship. 

Risks

Conflicts of interest

4.3.    There are no conflicts of interest to note for any of the officers involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form.
 

5.1.     Approval is requested for grant expenditure of up to £50,000 for retrofit coordinator training provision.
5.2.    This expenditure will be incurred across the 2023-24 and 2024-25 financial years. Expenditure for 2023-24 will be funded from within the Retrofit for London budget as approved within the Mayor’s approved budget for 2023-24 financial year. Expenditure for 2024-25 will also be funded from the Retrofit for London budget subject to approval as part of the Mayor’s budget setting process. Should insufficient budget be available following this then this will be a call on the wider Environment unit budget.
5.3.    The estimated profile of expenditure is shown in the table below:

5.4.     All relevant budget adjustments will be made.